If
you enjoy my Sentimental Paleontology posts, you'll love this
one—it's about actual paleontology! Dinosaurs, man! Who doesn't
love dinosaurs?
I
love dinosaurs. And that's why I've always had a special place in my
heart for the Primeval World Diorama. You can keep your Fun FactsTM
about the New York World's Fair and the Ford Magic Skyway and the
world record for the longest diorama display. All that stuff is
important, but it pales in comparison to the simple fact that:
Dinosaurs.
But
are they...accurate
dinosaurs? No. No they are not. We can get that out of the way right
off the bat. The Primeval World diorama contains animatronic figures
built in the mid-60s, many of them riffing off an animated movie that
came out in 1940.
At best,
they reflect the paleontological consensus of the times, filtered
through the sensibilities of animators and other artists who were
not necessarily scientifically literate, let alone scientists.
So
just how bad is it? Let's find out. While grinning like an
eight-year-old at the Natural History Museum, because dinosaurs.
