Wyoming Dinosaur Center
dinosaur museum
The Wyoming Dinosaur Center is located in East Thermopolis, Wyoming and is one of the few dinosaur museums in the world to have excavation sites within driving distance. The museum displays the Thermopolis Specimen of Archaeopteryx, which is one of only two real specimens of this genus on display outside of Europe.
Fifteen minutes from the museum are its many dig sites, located on Warm Springs Ranch. More than 10,000 bones have been discovered and excavated, most of which are either on display or stored just down the hill at the museum.
One of the most notable fossil assemblies on the property is from the "Something Interesting," or SI, excavation site. This site presents the rare occurrence of both dinosaur trace fossils and body fossils including footprints of many sauropods and Allosaurus as well as skeletal remains from Camarasaurus, Diplodocus, and Apatosaurus—three of the sauropods most common in the area during the Late Jurassic. Most of the bones belong to a juvenile (30 foot long) Camarasaurus that was scavenged by many Allosaurs. This is known based on the presence of both teeth and claw marks on many of the bones present as well as an abundance of shed Allosaur teeth (more than 100) found among the bone debris. Research conducted by Debra Jennings back in 2006, determined that the bones were accumulated in the past when the site was part of a shallow alkaline lake. There are in fact at least two separate layers of bone bearing material created as the lake expanded and shrank with changes in the environment over time.(Jennings 2006).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Wyoming Dinosaur Center” as dinosaur museum. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as dinosaur museum. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3570230. VIAF identifies the subject as 129395145. The Library of Congress control number is no2008102773. Authority coordinates are 43.643, -108.200. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2006.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Wyoming Dinosaur Center”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Wyoming Dinosaur Center primary sources, Wyoming Dinosaur Center archive and Wyoming research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Wyoming Dinosaur Center”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Wyoming Dinosaur Center” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.