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The Dinosaur Times 
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October 2015
Issue 60
 
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Happy Fall y'all!

The leaves are turning their glorious colors of yellow and red and my favorite time of the year is here...AUTUMN! October is going to be a really exciting and fun month for us at the museum.   Earth Science Week and Halloween activities highlight the month.

The unveiling of "Ava" was a great success! There was media coverage by many local and national news stations.  Be sure to come in and check out the assembled skeleton before she leaves on October 9th!
 
FROM THE EDUCATION DESK
Hopefully you all have come to see our exciting new discovery Ava . Finding a new species like Ava is rare and a once in a lifetime opportunity to see something nobody’s ever seen before.
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Ava's nearly complete skeleton with a size comparison.
Ava was originally discovered in 2012 in Montana’s Judith River formation and dates back 75 million years. It was nicknamed Ava because they thought at the time that their find was an example of an Avaceratops, an existing species. Researchers at Triebold Paleontology, Inc. and Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, Co., have spent the last few years restoring the dinosaur’s bones which were found 80% complete. “A lot of times when you find a new species, it’s just a scrape, but we found over 200 bones”, said Mike Triebold, head of Triebold Paleontology, Inc. Missing pieces were recreated using digital mirror imaging and 3D printing. “It is a juvenile and very possibly related to Triceratops, though it doesn’t have a nasal horn. The two horns on the brow turn toward the middle and are very close together,” said Triebold. Anthony Maltese, curator at the Rocky Mountain Resource Center, notes that it has spikes all around the frill that are not usually found on these juvenile dinosaurs. Experts from four academic institutions have confirmed that this is something new, said Triebold. Be sure and see Ava before it leaves October 9th.
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FYI:
"Lightning Claw" is a newly discovered carnivorous dinosaur, and the largest ever found in Australia at 22 ft. long. It dates back to the Cretaceous Period about 110 million years ago. It was originally found by miners in the town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. Paleontologists found pieces of the dinosaur’s hip, ribs, arm and foot, along with a 10 inch claw that researchers say was used as a ‘grappling hook’ to snatch prey. The partially complete skeleton is the second most complete specimen found on the island.
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A nearly complete new dinosaur fossil, which is the close cousin of the Velociraptor, has been found in China in the Liaoning Province. It lived around 125 million years ago in northeastern China and weighed about 25 pounds. It is named Zhenyuanlong suni and has unusally short feathered wings which may provide clues about the evolution of feathers. “ Look at this dinosaur and you’re probably seeing, more or less, what a real Velociraptor would have looked liked,” says paleontologist Stephen L. Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh. “It would look very much like an eagle or a vulture” said Brusatte who was the co-author of a study published online in Scientific Reports, with paleontologist Junchang Luof of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.

Geri Lebold
Eduacation Director
Spend some time shopping at Prehistoric Paradise, the largest dinosaur store in the region for hundreds of unique gifts including real fossils, jewelry, games, books, stuffed dinosaurs, t-shirts and much more! A family membership makes a great gift that can be enjoyed for the entire year. If you have someone who’s difficult to buy for, a gift card is the perfect solution. Save yourself time and money by letting our staff gift wrap your purchases free of charge.
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Pteranodon wings
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DVD - Buddy's Halloween Adventure
 
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Swirly Sea Turtles
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Dino Slinky
$15 OFF gift store purchase of $50 or more
[Ex: Offer for all regular priced items only. Limited to coupon per customer.]
 
Expires 10/31/2015
 
Barcode
15off50
 
Dinosaur Resource Center
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Triebold Paleontology - In the Lab
The Dinosaur Resource Center’s “Dinosaur Nerds,” led by uber-nerd paleo twerp Jacob Jett, have launched a YouTube channel. Watch for a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going on in the museum and our lab, including fossil reconstruction projects and our visitor experience guides’ hidden gems. Check out all the videos online at dinosaurnerds.com; subscribe to the channel to stay on top of what we’re up to.

Check out lab updates on our blog.  Click here!
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Don’t forget to move your clocks forward one hour on November 1st.
November 11th
is Veterans ‘ Day and all active or retired persons with military I.D. will receive ½ off of regular admission. November 21st is our Thanksgiving program with Cathy Kelsay at 1:30pm. Each child will make a Pilgrim sack puppet to take home. There will be stories and songs and you will be able to join in the puppet show with Cathy with YOUR puppet as the star. Please join us for this very festive and fun time!
Woodland Park kids haveThanksgiving break November 23rd-27th.
November 26 the museum will be closed to celebrate Thanksgiving.
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Kicking off Earth Science Week on Sat. Oct 10th, at 1:30, join us for the “Harry Potter Show” presented by Science Matters as we explore the wizarding world of Harry Potter! Learn some of the magical secrets a real wizard would use while watching exciting hands on demonstrations of Disappearing Ink, Levitation, Potions, and more. Budding scientists will discover some of the principals of flight as we learn about what it would take to really fly a broomstick. Finally, we will make our own mini-rockets to simulate the flight on a broomstick. Join us and go behind the scenes of magic and wizardry where we discover IT’S NOT MAGIC, IT’S REALLY SCIENCE!!
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Capping off the week, on Sat. Oct 17th, from 9am-1pm…Steve Veatch will be teaching the class “Basic Paleontology: An Introduction to the Fossil Record”. This course aims to provide a practical introduction to paleontology – the study of ancient life forms preserved as fossils. The class will focus on use of fossils as indicators of ancient environments.
While paleontology informs us about remarkable patterns of change in the past and some of the changes that are taking place today, it also helps us understand how these changes may shape our future world. Join Steven Veatch and his team and explore the lost worlds where dinosaurs once ruled supreme. Register with the RMDRC by calling 719-686-1820 X104; ask for Deb. This course is for ages 12 to adult. Course fee: $20 plus museum admission of $11.50. Class must be prepaid at registration and includes a certificate of completion and handouts. Students need to bring a notebook, pen, and clipboard. Click here for more info!
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On Sat. Oct. 24th at 1:30pm-3:00pm, join our Halloween Show, ”Spooky Tales”. Have a spooky good time with dead bride, Denise Gard, and her Border Collie Sienna, in this fun Halloween program. Help Denise and Sienna concoct a bubbling brew while enjoying some creepy tales set in Colorado. Show starts at 1:30pm…Even Sienna will be in costume! At the end of this family-friendly show there will be a parade led by Sienna, and a costume contest for all. Prizes will be given for the Scariest, the Funniest, the Most Creative costume, and the Best Dinosaur Costume. So get your costume and imagination ready and come prepared for a very interactive Halloween show…treat bags will be given to all children!
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October 3rd, the Dinosaur Resource Center will be at UCCS for the Colorado Springs Cool Science Festival Carnival. Hope you will join us to find out how much fun science and engineering really are with over 80 hands-on science activity stations, exciting science shows and demonstrations. For more information on this and other Cool Science events go to www.coolscience.com.
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As you can see, we have loads of fun and education planned for the month of October. Bring your family and friends and we’ll see you soon!

JJ Triebold
President
 
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Store Hours
Monday - Saturday 9:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm
Closed - Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day & New Year's Day

We have a marvelous world class museum here in Woodland Park. We feature an awe-inspiring display of dinosaurs, prehistoric marine reptiles, pterosaurs and fish of North America’s late Cretaceous period. Our gift store, Prehistoric Paradise is the regions largest dinosaur gift shop and is always free to visit.
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