DinoVenture Will Roar to Life at The Bishop

September 21, 2021 – Sarasota

Q: What’s 40 feet long, and will soon be roaring into The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature?

A: A Tyrannosaurus rex — one of more than two dozen life-like dinosaurs that will be in The Bishop’s newest experience, Dino Don’s DinoVenture, opening to the public on Oct. 23. DinoVenture is presented by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, and Mosaic.

This outdoor exhibitionwill transport visitors back to the Cretaceous Period — when T. rexes were apex predators and the kings of the Earth — allowing visitors to walk among these roaring, breathing giants in real life! The animals featured in DinoVenture are the world’s most accurate animatronic dinosaurs — complete with silicon waterproof skin and life-like movements. 

They breathe, blink, and flick their tails.  And beware — some are so realistic that they even fart and pee!

Most of the dinosaurs of DinoVenture will be outside in The Bishop’s Riverside Plaza, adjacent to the Mosaic Backyard Universe. There, you can encounter:

T. Rex, one of the largest land carnivores of its era. Weighing in at around 6 tons, T. Rex was the menacing dinosaur featured in the movie Jurassic Park. 

The other main menace of Jurassic Park: velociraptor. Did you know that in real life, velociraptors were really only the size of turkeys? (The ones in Jurassic Park were much bigger.) They had three curved claws on their ‘manus’ or hands, and were similar to modern birds. 

A mother and baby Triceratops (above left), with their large bony frills and brow horns. Triceratops were among the largest known land animals and grew to an estimated 30 feet long!

· Euoplocephalus (above right), an ankylosaurid, or armored dinosaur. This armor was made by osteoderms, bones embedded in their dermis. Some modern animals, including turtles, crocodiles and alligators, sport osteoderms today.

· The “thick-headed lizard” — the Pachycephalosaurus, one of the last non-avian dinosaurs before an enormous comet or asteroid caused the mass extinction event that killed nearly all the dinosaurs.

· Quetzalcoatus, a flying reptile, or pterosaur. This was one of the largest flying animals that ever existed.

DinoVenture at The Bishop will also include Parasaurolophus, Platesaurus, an Oviraptor with its nest, Herrasaurus, Yunnanosaurus and many more!

“Our guests will feel like they’ve been transported back millions of years as they walk among these moving, breathing dinosaurs,” said The Bishop’s CEO, Hillary Spencer. “We’re thrilled to offer this new experience where families will make unforgettable memories together! And those who decide to explore both DinoVenture and the Museum will discover fascinating connections between dinosaurs and the ancient animals that shared the planet with them, myths of indigenous people, and even modern animals.”

The animals in DinoVenture were created by Don Lessem, the dinosaur advisor on Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, who is known world-wide for his dinosaur expertise. Lessem has written more than 40 popular science books about dinosaurs, has excavated and reconstructed skeletons of some of the largest dinosaurs that ever existed and has a dinosaur — the Lessemsaurus, a sauropod — named for him.

Guests can choose from three different ticket packages: DinoVenture only, Museum only, or the best of both: an all-access pass to both DinoVenture and the Museum. Advance tickets are on sale now at www.BishopScience.org/DinoVenture.