Dinos on Display
Once upon a time, 235 to 66 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the earth. Ranging up to 150,000 pounds, they were no shrinking violets. Some had heads five feet long or larger. Triceratops, AKA the three-horned dinosaur, although much smaller than the largest dinosaurs, was nearly 30 feet long and weighed in at 20,000 pounds.
But the local celebrity, a duck-billed dinosaur hipbone, was the first dinosaur body part excavated in Oregon by paleontologist Dave Taylor. Estimated at 75 million years old, the fossil was first discovered in the 1960s south of Gold Beach. Thirty years later, Taylor and a team excavated it. It was a group effort, including children from all over Oregon.
You can see it here at the Tigard Library through February, as well as a horn from the three-horned Triceratops, which Taylor also excavated in Wyoming. The display also includes a cast of a partial skull of possibly the most famous dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus rex, which was found in Montana. One look at these body parts, and you get a sense of how gigantic these animals were.
Taylor, president of the Northwest Museum of Natural History, said dinosaurs became extinct shortly after the Oregon duckbill lived—if you call 10 million years later “shortly.” Scientists speculate that they were killed by a meteorite, volcanic eruption—or both.
The library is proud to host this rare display. Get your prehistoric vibe on and examine these relics of yesteryear.