This Summer at the Minnesota Zoo

May 25 - September 2, 2013

Guests will have a wild time at the Zoo this summer with the return of two popular exhibits - Africa! and All New Dinosaurs!...Two Adventures. One Place.  The dual exhibits are sponsored by Think Mutual Bank. Guests will travel half-way across the world and into the heart of the African savannah, complete with giraffes, ostrich, bongos, wildebeest, addax and guinea fowl. With the option to hand-feed giraffes, guests will feel like they’re on safari! (Subject to change) Going back in time 65 million years, Dinosaurs!* roar is louder than ever with 20 larger-than-life animatronic dinosaurs, featuring the ever popular Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus and many more.

• African animal encounters – Lakeside Terrace 10:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.
• Tiyumba African Drum and Dance Company – Lakeside Terrace – 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m.
• Giraffe keeper talks – Africa exhibit – 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. & 3:00 p.m.
• Face painting – Central Plaza - 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Craft activity – Tropics Plaza - 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 pm.

Sponsored by

Africa!
Click on an image to enlarge.

Giraffe
With their tall vantage point, keen sense of smell and excellent vision, giraffes are the lookouts of the savanna, often alerting other animals when a predator approaches.

Bongo
A Giant among Antelope

Bongos prefer dense tropical forests in equatorial Africa. Rainforests are too open at ground level for their needs, but dense forest that is regenerating after human or elephant disturbance is just right.

Ostrich
The largest living bird, ostriches stand eight feet tall and weigh 300 pounds. Although they can't fly, they can run at speeds up to 40 miles an hour.

Wildebeest
Wildebeest are sometimes known as the "clowns of the savanna" because of their sprightly leaps and territorial behaviors. They prance, snort, paw the ground and thrash their tails.

Addax nasomusculatus
Critically Endangered Antelope
The addax copes with extreme desert heat by resting during the day and foraging at night. Their hooves are well adapted for traveling over desert sand.

Helmeted Guinea Fowl
Although these birds are native to Africa, their domestic counterparts are popular all over the world. They’re raised for meat and eggs, kept in farmyards to control insects pests, and admired by hobbyists.

Giraffe Feeding

Dinosaurs!
Click on an image to enlarge.

Apatosaurus
Apatosaurus/ Brontosaurus means “Deceptive Lizard” because it was a harmless giant.

Discovered in North America from the Jurassic period. (157-146 million years ago).

Apatosaurus Baby
Apatosaurus/ Brontosaurus means “Deceptive Lizard” because it was a harmless giant.

Discovered in North America from the Jurassic period. (157-146 million years ago).

Brachiosaurus
Name means “Arm Lizard” because its forelimbs were longer than hind legs.

Discovered in North America, Europe and Africa from the Jurassic period.

Pronounced: BRAK-ee-uh-SORE-us

Dilophosaurus Baby
Name means “Double-Crested Lizard” because it had two crests.

Dilophosaurus
Had long thin legs and short arms with three fingers and claws on each finger. Also, had strong legs with four toes.

Pronounced: die-LOF-o-SOR-us

Quetzalcoatlus
Name comes from Quetzalcoatl, an Aztec serpent god covered in feathers.

Lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now North America

Tyrannosaurus
Name means “Tyrant Lizard King” because it was one of the largest and most powerful dinosaurs.

Discovered in the USA, Canada and East Asia from the cretaceous period.

Pronounced: tye-RAN-o-SORE-us

Baryonyx
Name means “heavy claw” because it has a large claw on the thumb of each hand that was about 35cm long.

Lived in the late Cretaceous period.

Ceratosaurus
Name means “Horn Lizard” because it had a blade like horn on its nose.

Discovered in North America, Tanzania and Portugal from the Jurassic period. (156-145 million years ago)

Compsognathus

Name means "Pretty Jaw". It was a bird-like dinosaur that walked on two long, thin legs with three toes on each foot.

It was known to live in the late Jurassic period.

Dimetrodon
Name means “two measures of teeth” because it had a large skull with two different types of teeth; shearing and sharp.

Discovered in North America from the Permian Period. (280-245 million years ago.)

Edmontonia
Edmontonia was found in 1924 in the Edmonton rock Formation in Alberta.

It was an herbivore of the late Cretaceous period.

Massospondylus
Massospondylus means "Massive Vertebra"

Lived during the early Jurassic period

Megalosaurus
Name means “Great Lizard,” and it was one of the first discovered dinosaurs.

Discovered in England from the Jurassic period. (181-169 million years ago)

Ornithomimus
Given its name (meaning “bird-mimic”) because of its bird-like bone structure.

Ornithomimus lived in the late Cretaceous period.

Protohadros
Given this name because it was considered the earliest hadrosaur.

Protohadros lived in the late Cretaceous period.

Stegosaurus
Name means “Roof Lizard” or “Plated Lizard” probably because of the plates and spikes that covered its back.

Discovered in North America, Europe, India, China, and Africa. (156-140 million years ago)

Therizinosaurus
Name means "Scythe Lizard" due to its long claws.

Lived roughly 77 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous Period

Triceratops
Name means “Three Horned Face” because it had three horns on its face.

Discovered in North America from the cretaceous period. (72-65 million years ago)

T-Rex Robot

Dinosaur Fun Facts

• Dinosaurs! at the Minnesota Zoo represents the Mesozoic era and lived from approximately 230 million to 65 million years ago.
• The name dinosaur translates as 'terrible or wondrous lizards.'

More fun facts.