Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleonotolgy, Drumheller, Alberta

We drove about 2 hours to get to this museum from our timeshare here in Canmore. I'd guess it is about an hour from Calgary. We returned a different way, got caught up in construction detours, then evening traffic, and more construction, which made for a long day. This area is a haven for dinosaur bones and there collection was exquisite.

I hope you all remember lizard king, Tyrannosaurus rex, who stalked the land with heavy, muscular legs and thunderous footsteps. Long believed to be an active hunter, this massive hunter may have been an opportunistic scavenger when fully grown: but these may be a relative apatosaurus.The trilobite was the first boned creature, and a few other paleozoic pals above. This one below was so big! and so fake, but as you can tell you got to walk on top of the glass that encased him and his buddies.

Kali, how would you like a science station like this one?

I just would love to have such an ammonite on my living room entry way, but these crystallized beauties start at $600 for about a inch and a half -----this one was, WOW, $10,000 or so if it was for sale.

Ornithomimus was swift and agile as he darted around during the Cretaceous period: with long stride, hollow bones, and swift precision in persuit of prey, or evading his predators.

After death, this Ornithominmus body lay exposed to the hot sun (cretaceous). They think the flesh decomposed the muscles dried, and ligaments tightened, causing this arched positon. Then sediment covered his body protecting him till now.

Below is a dimetrodon layed out as he was most likely found.

This is where my camera battery went dead. Aren't you lucky?

Dimetrodon
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DimetrodonFossil range: Early - Middle Permian

Restoration of Dimetrodon
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Superclass:
Tetrapoda
Class:
Synapsida
Order:
Pelycosauria
Suborder:
Eupelycosauria
Family:
Sphenacodontidae
Genus:
DimetrodonCope, 1878
Species
D. angelensis Olson, 1962
D. booneorum Romer, 1937
D. giganhomogenes Case, 1907
D. grandis Case, 1907
D. limbatus Cope, 1877
D. loomisi Romer, 1937
D. macrospondylus Cope, 1884
D. milleri Romer, 1937
D. natalis Cope, 1877
D. occidentalis Berman, 1977
D. teutonis Berman, Reisz, Martens & Henrici, 2001
Dimetrodon (pronounced /daɪˈmɛ.tɹəʊˌdɒn/, meaning "two measures of teeth") was a predatory synapsid ('mammal-like reptile') genus that flourished during the Permian Period, living between 280–265 million years ago. It was more closely related to mammals than to true reptiles such as lizards.
Dimetrodon was not a dinosaur, despite being popularly grouped with them. Rather, it is classified as a pelycosaur. Fossils of Dimetrodon have been found in North America and Europe, as well as a significant discovery of Dimetrodon footprints in southern New Mexico by Jerry MacDonald.
Contents[hide]
1 Description
1.1 Sail
2 Relationship with modern mammals
3 In popular culture
4 Gallery of species
5 See also
6 References
//

[edit] Description

Dimetrodon grandis skeleton at theNational Museum of Natural History
Dimetrodon was an apex predator, among the largest of its day. It grew to up to 3 1/2 meters (11 feet) in length. The name Dimetrodon means 'two-measures of teeth', so named because it had a large skull with two different types of teeth (shearing teeth and sharp canine teeth), unlike reptiles. Dentition showing this differentiation of teeth is called heterodonty. It walked on four side-sprawling legs and had a large tail. Dimetrodon may have moved in a manner similar to present-day lizards.

[edit] Sail

Two Dimetrodon skeletons at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
The most distinctive characteristic of Dimetrodon was the spectacular sail on its back (other pelycosaurs such as Edaphosaurus, Ianthasaurus, and Sphenacodon also have this trait). The sail, which was dense with blood vessels, was probably used to regulate body temperature; the surface area would allow it to warm up or cool off more efficiently. This adaptation was important because it would give the animal more time to hunt prey. The sail may also have been used in mating rituals and to warn off other predators. The sail was supported by neural spines, each one sprouting from an individual vertebra. Bramwell and Fellgett (1973) calculate that a 200 kg Dimetrodon would heat up from 26° C to 32° C in 205 minutes without a sail and in only 80 minutes with a sail.[1]

[edit] Relationship with modern mammals

Hey, everyone, we are leaving tomorrow, picking up Dad on Saturday, then heading home. We are excited and ready to pump, jump up and down again at the gym and with Rosemarie , swing the golf club and ride in the cart with music, play a little bridge, ride a bike, have hot water and clean bodies, a soft feather bed, food that might not be tainted with cooler germs, warm weather, but most of all, you friends. Ah!!! Smile, smile. See you all soon for fun and games.