At the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago, the last dinosaurs roamed what is now the Western Interior of North America. Then, global catastrophe—in the form of a massive asteroid—ended their reign. All dinosaurs (except birds) disappeared forever.
Take a walk through time to explore our scientists' findings and answers to the questions that help us understand America's last dinosaurs, their lives and their ultimate demise.
Dinosaurs thrived 66 million years ago.
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Did you know?
Scientists use clues from animals today to figure out how dinosaurs looked, moved, and acted in social settings
Look For
A dramatic, mounted Triceratops skeleton
A coprolite (fossil poop!) from a very large dinosaur
A wall-sized mural recreating a scene in Western North America just before the asteroid struck
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See paleobiology in action
The FossiLab
Preparing newly-collected fossils for our scientists and maintaining all the fossils in our extensive collections is a big job. Watch through the lab's windows as Museum staff and volunteers unpack new fossil shipments from the field, remove fossils from rock and loose sediment, repair, conserve, photograph and illustrate fossils, and perform many other fossil preparation and conservation tasks. We welcome visitor's questions and love to talk about what we are doing. Find us on the second floor of the National Museum of Natural History, within the Last American Dinosaurs exhibition.