Ongoing Exhibitions
Little Clint: The Story of a Baby Dinosaur
Main Level
This permanent exhibit tells the story of a young dinosaur from his hatching during the Cretaceous period to his arrival at the Dinosaur Discovery Museum. Little Clint is a 3 year old Tyrannosaurus rex that was excavated in southeast Montana by the Carthage Institute of Paleontology.
Follow Little Clint’s story through five chapters: hatching and his life, becoming a fossil, excavation, study of the bones, and museum life.
Main Gallery
Main Level
The main gallery of the Dinosaur Discovery Museum tells the story of how non-avian, theropod dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Allosaurus gave rise to the avian dinosaurs – the birds.
This is one of the most complete transitions known from the fossil record and can be seen in action in the Museum. The gallery is a primer on dinosaurs – what they were, how we know they existed, what they looked like, how they behaved, how and why they were alike and different, and what happened to them.
The dinosaur skeletons in the main gallery are casts of actual dinosaur fossil bones. The lighter bones are casts of actual fossil bones. The black bones show those missing from the original skeletons but sculpted to replace them. Each dinosaur is labeled with information about the species.
Panels on the gallery wall answer the most-asked questions about dinosaurs. You can listen to the environmental and animal sounds in the exhibit gallery. Step back into the Mesozoic era with outdoors sounds in different terrains and weather conditions during the Age of Dinosaurs.
In association with the Carthage Institute of Paleontology and the Institute’s on-site laboratory, the Museum presents current, ongoing research in the study of dinosaurs. The Museum collaborates with the Carthage Institute of Paleontology in research, field work, and education programs. This includes the collection and preservation of dinosaur specimens for its research collections.
Special Exhibitions
Carthage Institute of Paleontology
The Carthage Institute of Paleontology (CIP) is the successful result of a long-standing partnership between Carthage College and the City of Kenosha.
The paleontology program is co-led by Prof. Thomas Carr, assistant professor of biology, and Dr. Megan Seitz, preparator. Prof. Carr is a vertebrate paleontologist and recognized expert on tyrannosaurid dinosaurs. Dr. Seitz, preparator of the CIP, is a paleontologist who trains students in lab techniques on authentic dinosaur fossils. (Vertebrate paleontology is the study of fossils of animals with backbones.) Dr. Seitz runs the paleontology lab, which is housed in the Dinosaur Discovery Museum.
COLLECT THE BONES OF DINOSAURS SUCH AS T. REX & TRICERATOPS
The Carthage Institute of Paleontology leads a month-long dinosaur-hunting expedition to southeastern Montana, led by Prof. Carr and Dr. Seitz. Citizen scientists have the opportunity to discover and collect in the Hell Creek Formation, a unit of rock deposited in Montana and adjacent states at the end of the age of dinosaurs. The expeditions take place on public lands that are overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.
Since the expeditions started, the crews of Prof. Carr and Dr. Seitz have located dozens of dinosaur skeletons. So far they have catalogued 110,000 fossils that include teeth, bones, and scales of dinosaurs, crocs, turtles, fish, birds, and mammals. The dinosaurs include rare juvenile Triceratops and T. rex. Bones collected during the expedition are brought back to the CIP, where the fossils are prepared and conserved by Dr. Seitz, student volunteers, and citizen scientists. The fossils are stored in the permanent collections of the DDM, which is a federal repository for paleontological resources.
Carthage Institute of Paleontology Lab
Lower Level
Citizen scientists have the opportunity to volunteer in the dinosaur prep lab under the supervision of Dr. Seitz. You will have the opportunity to work on real dinosaur fossils from the Cretaceous. The lab is in the Dinosaur Discovery Museum (Kenosha, WI) and the it is open to public view through its large bay windows. Previous lab or field experience is not required!
Semester Commitment Details
We ask that you commit a few hours each week on a regular schedule on a semester-by-semester basis. We expect punctuality and clear communication.
Skills Learned
You will learn lab health and safety, use of small hand tools, air abrasion, air scribe, assembling fragments, record keeping of tasks and time, opening field jackets, making lab jackets. You will learn how to handle delicate fossils and how to use glues and consolidants safely.
The training sequence
You’ll start on a bag of dinosaur bits, cleaning and piecing fragments together and using small hand tools, glue, consolidants, and the air abrasive unit. Once those key skills are mastered, volunteers then move on to fragments of turtle shell to clean and assemble. Next, depending on availability, volunteers might do another complicated bag of fragments or prepare a bone in a field jacket.
Fossil Lab
The lab includes bay windows and opportunities for public engagement. The lab has an air abrasion unit, a fume hood, a sink, tables for large fossils, and storage for hazardous materials. The lab space can hold up to three people at a time. The main tools are pneumatic, and are powered by an air compressor in and adjacent room.
Fossil Collections
The fossil lab opens into the fossil collections, where prepped and unprepped fossils are stored. The collections are temperature and humidity controlled; this is where your completed fossil projects are stored.
Virtual Exhibitions
Selections from the Permanent Collection
The Dinosaur Discovery Museum (DDM) in downtown Kenosha is a truly unique place. It is the only museum in the United States designed specifically to show the evolutionary transition between dinosaurs and birds and it does so with the largest collection of theropod dinosaurs in the country.
Discover some of our artifacts from the comfort of your home in this virtual exhibitions.
