Imagine standing face-to-face with a dinosaur from the Jurassic Park film franchise. No, not the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex, but something more friendly. At Norman’s Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, you can travel back 109 million years to meet the inspiration behind one of this summer’s new movie characters.
The upcoming film Jurassic World: Rebirth, the latest in the Jurassic Park franchise, features a computer-animated dinosaur character named Dolores, who befriends the main characters, played by Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali. Dolores is modeled after Aquilops americanus, a real dinosaur from the Cretaceous period.
Oklahoma’s state museum of natural history, the Sam Noble Museum, is located on the southwest corner of the University of Oklahoma’s campus, and offers visitors the rare chance to see the real-life inspiration behind Dolores. It is the only place in the world where you can find an Aquilops americanus fossil, after the initial discovery made by Dr. Rich Cifelli in 1997.
The name Aquilops americanus translates to “American eagle face” due to its beaked nose, resembling an eagle. The Aquilops americanus belongs to the ceratopsian family of dinosaurs, making it a relative to the famous triceratops and is considered the oldest member of the ceratopsian family in North America.
Visitors planning a trip to the Sam Noble can look forward to Aquilops Day on July 19. From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., visitors and their children can enjoy crafts, educational booths, a short lecture and a story. There will be live music and the first 100 guests can enjoy a free snow cone.Visitors who bring a Jurassic World movie ticket (paper or digital) proof of purchase will be offered a 20 percent discount for admission to the museum.
These events will be preceded by a proclamation from the mayor of Norman that makes the week of June 29 through July 5 as Natural History Week. The proclamation encourages residents and visitors alike to visit the Sam Noble Museum to celebrate the “prehistoric heritage,” and “support the ongoing efforts to preserve and share Oklahoma's unique place in the story of life on Earth.”
The Sam Noble is one of the world’s largest university-based natural history museums. With over 10 million objects and specimens and five permanent exhibits, the museum offers a unique and intimate look into the deep past of Oklahoma and North America. For more information on the museum, visit our webpage.
