The New Bronze Age
8:36 pm
While up in Santa Fe the other day I stopped by the Roundhouse to check out a little exhibit entitled The New Bronze Age. It was put together by the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, which is run by Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, NM. The museum works closely with the college’s excellent sculpture program, which has led to an impressive collection of fossils and skeletons cast in bronze. A handful of these are on display in the Governor’s Gallery through September 1 (and many more are permanently on display at the museum in Tucumcari). I’ve posted some pictures from the show below the fold:
A dynamically mounted sabertooth cat
Camarasaurus skull
A nicely patinaed Stegosaurus plate
Skull of the predatory rauisuchian Postosuchus
Skulls of a Velociraptor and a Komodo Dragon
A beautiful bronze restoration of the
Triassic crocodylimorph Hesperosuchus agilis
(sculpted by Phil Burcheff)
Which would make a better ally against the ever-present imminent raptor threat to humanity: the sabre-tooth, the camarasaurus, or the Komodo dragon? While the camarasaurus would have a lot of rage built up because so few have ever heard of it and the raptors got far more screen time in Jurassic Parks I, II, and III, I am concerned that its bite attack would be less than helpful. The sabre-tooth’s teeth are quite sabrous, but as it is a cat, would it be too lazy to help fight off the attacking raptors? Could it be convinced with fish-flavoured treats? Or do we have to throw balls of yarn in the raptors’ direction? And the Komodo- does it feel a tight kinship with the deadly raptors, or can it be bought/coerced over to the human side? I just don’t think that Hesperosuchus is trustworthy to either side and hope that the raptors feel the same way, because if they get allies, we’re really in trouble. Also, where can we get some of that stegosaurus armour?
Beware the ever-present threat of raptors!
- caitlen m.
Wow, the similarities between the komodo dragon and velociraptor skulls are amazing!