EVEN More DinoFest Info - and Symposium Info

["Allan Edels" <edels@email.msn.com>]

Everyone attending DinoFest:

1)    There are signs on the doors saying "No Re-Admittance for any reason".
I have been assured that this does not apply to symposium attendees.

2)    The Russian Dinosaur exhibit also features a large sauropod nest, some
excellent Permian fossils as well, and _Avimimus_  (Tom Holtz: Try
contacting Don Wohlberg or Kelly Gittis concerning getting a hands-on look
at it - I have no idea what your chances might be).


3)    The two Chinese museums supplying fossils are Bejing and Zhigong.  The
fossils range from Triassic through Cretaceous, but seem to be mostly the
older age.  Even the casts look good.  Hidden far from the entrance (off to
the left from the escalators), and barely labeled is:  _Confusornis_.  It is
near the automobiles (hey - fossil fuels!!!), the Minnisotan Gneiss (3.7
billion years old), the Stromatolites, the coral reef slices, and some
personal collections of some local collectors (This includes a few large
Trilobites, Crinoids [one in particular is beautifully preserved - it takes
up 4-5 feet by around 2 feet], amber, mammals, pleisiosaurs, dino
footprints, etc.)

4)    There are some children's activities in the ceratopians exhibit -
crayoning, and sandbox fossil hunting...

5)    There is a portion of the exhibit labeled (on a stylized map I have)
as being from Mongolia (good _Protoceratops_ and _Psittacasurus_ specimens).

6)    The Art Show  - no photos or videos please.  This is where you will
find the photos of _Sinosauropteryx_, and a good restoration of it nearby,
too.

7)    There is a Plexiglas container with 5 _Deinonychus_ specimens side by
side - coming straight towards you.  Note that what appears to be the
largest one is missing one toe and claw (IV, I believe) on the right foot
(rear).  The cast at the Academy of Natural Sciences is also missing the
same part - and has been since the exhibit was first installed in 1986.

8)    Near the Art Exhibit is a Shark exhibit - this features a fully
reconstructed _Carcaradon megalodon_  jaw.  (Photo op).

9)    Past the Art Exhibit and the Amber exhibit, on the far right (from the
escalator), is the"Fossil Art" exhibit - which consists of 30+ slabs showing
numerous trace fossils (Trilobites, sea slugs, shrimp, etc.).  The exhibit
was labeled just last week.

10)    There are 3 steel dinosaur skeletons, a _T. rex_, a _Stegosaurus_,
and the "raptor" - which is operable as a puppet).  [I haven't seen anyone
work it, though].

11)    Symposium Info:  You will be able to re-attend if you leave the
building  (Hold on to your ticket stubs).  Symposium lunches are scheduled
for Noon each day.  The Symposium will be held in what is the upstairs to
the DinoFest exhibit, in several meeting rooms.  I have been told that the
presentations have tended to run overtime in the past, so be prepared.

12)    There is no film for sale.  There are cameras for sale ($18.00 for 27
shots).

13)    For a price, you can get your (and/or your child's) photo taken
sitting on the back of a _Parasauralophus_ and about to be eaten by a _T.
rex_.

14)    There are various Dinomation robotic creatures scattered throughout
the exhibit.

15)    There is a full size _Dilophosaurus_ (facing his robotic counterpart)
near the back of the exhibit (straight back from the escalators).

16)    At the Amber exhibit portion, there are other rocks and minerals on
display.


    "Th-thh-th-th-th--That's All, Folks!"


    Hope to meet all the dinolist attendees (at least those who wish to be
found).



            Allan Edels