by Lynne Conte

Created on: April 23, 2009   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

Dinosaurs and other reptiles began two hundred million years ago. "During the Jurassic Period, the Connecticut Valley contained many shallow and temporary lakes, with alot of mudflats," according to Geology_of_Connecticut website by Lisa Alter.
Mudflats covered in mica prevented mud from sticking to dinosaurs' feet, keeping dinosaur footprints well preserved.

Edward_Hitchcock gave dinosaur footprints the name Eubrontes in 1845. Most likely, from the dinosaur family, Dilophosaurus. The size of Eubrontes are 16 to 20 inches in size with three long toes and a heel.

One of the largest dinosaur track sites in New England is Dinosaur State Park . Dinosaur tracks in its natural well-being are displayed under the park's geodesic_dome.
Environmental Educator Coordinator, Meg Enkler says, "We are an unusual Museum. Instead of bringing fossils and artifacts to a museum, we brought the museum to the fossils. You can see dinosaur tracts, right where the dinosaurs left them two million years ago!"

Located at 400 West Street, Rocky Hill, Connecticut, USA 06067, Phone number 860.529.8423, Email: info@dinosaurstatepark.org, Hours: Tuesday thru Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Trails close at 4 p.m., Closed Mondays. Cost: $5 adults and teens 13 & over, $2 youth 6 to 12, $50 Heritage Pass for 2 adults and 4 youth with unlimited admission to Dinosaur, Fort Trumbull and Gillette Castle, Free to children ages 5 and under & Charter Oak Pass Holders. Go to http://www.dinosaurstatepark.org for more information.
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The museum displays the history of Earth, its life and its cultures. An original size bronze statue of the Torosaurus_latus is seen next to the museum. Deputy Director/Assistant Director, Jane Pickering says, "We have a few tracks of dinosaurs, but we mostly display big dinosaurs from the Wild West."

Museum Instructor, Armand Morgan says the museum, "is one of the best places to see real dinosaur_bones. We have mounted skeletons of Apatosaurus, Stegosaurus, Centrosaurus, Camptosaurus and Camarasaurus in our Great Hall." According to Morgan, a Wyoming palenthologist in 1879 discovered The Apatosaurus, formerly known as Brontosaurus. He says, "Deinonychus was discovered by Yale paleontologist John Ostrom and other prehistoric_animals displays include marine reptiles like mosasaurs, flying reptiles like Pteranodon and Ice Age mammals like a mastodon and a saber-toothed cat."
One of the world largest murals painted by Rudolph_Zallinger is also

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