New exhibit showcases local dinosaurs
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POCATELLO — Dinosaurs once ruled Idaho, and the Idaho Museum of Natural history is presenting the remains of those that roamed the Gem State 100 million years ago in its “Dinosaurs from the Mountain” exhibit.
It opened Saturday, and museum staff hope the exhibit will help Idahoans will feel more connected to the dinosaurs from the area.
Brandon Peecook, curator of paleontology, said that they don’t find many dinosaur fossils in Idaho because of its geology, where rocks are either extremely old and predate dinosaurs or recently formed like the Snake River Plain.
Some of the dinosaurs this exhibit will feature are armored plant-eaters, ancient crocodiles and an early cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex. Also featured will be the Oryctodromeus, Idaho’s state dinosaur.
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There will be around 40 real fossil specimens on display. In addition, there will be three 3D printed skeletons as well as 12 skulls and other fossil pieces.
The centerpiece of the exhibit is a giant 3D printed Gigantoraptor skeleton, guarding real fossilized eggs. It towers at 9 feet tall and has giant claws.
The model skeleton was constructed by a joint effort with the Idaho Virtualization Lab (IVL), and Idaho State University’s welding and auto collision repair and refinishing program.
It started with Peecook and Tim Gomes with the IVL intricately designing each bone to be an exact replica, and they did that for about a year and a half. Then they took the pieces to the autobody students to be painted.
The last step that brought the project all together were the welding students constructing the skeleton. They started by planting a metal pole in the ground for support while they put the pieces together.
“Those guys up there have so much technical know how,” Peecook said. “We would use drills to drill holes in the plastic bones. We would have cradles that hold some of them from underneath. So it was just very custom, piece-by-piece (job).”
The finished product will be on display, standing over the remains of the eggs.
“This exhibit is trying to show people … what dinosaurs Idaho does have, and we have a couple that are pretty spectacular,” Peecook said.