By Salamat Ellams
Dinosaurs will be making a big come back this summer – at the Bronx Zoo.
“Its been five years since the Zoo had a Dinosaur Safari ride,” said Rob Pedini, one of the Dinosaur Safari narrators said.
The Safari includes 40 life-size Animatronic Dinosaurs and it spans two acres. For now, the Safari isn’t open to the public. But as of Friday April 19 it will be open to everyone.
The Zoo will be offering a narrated ride and a Dinosaur Safari Field guide. “The Safari field guide will showcase each species and illustrate some of the physical and behavioral adaptations utilized by many dinosaurs and modern-day wildlife,” Pedini said.
Thursday’s Dinosaur Safari ride, enjoyed by this Brooklyn News Service reporter, featured dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex, which is 40 feet long. The dinosaur fossils at the zoo were discovered in the United States, Canada and Mongolia.
Sixty six million years ago Tyrannosaurus rex was an apex predator and a favorite species in popular culture.
The Dinosaur Safari also includes Omeisaurus. “Omeisairus is an herbivore that spans more than 60 feet head to tail and towers over the safari trail,” Pedini said. Omeisairus could eat leaves from the tallest treetops.
Another wonderful dinosaur on this trail is the Parasaurolophus. This dinosaur was discovered in the United States and Canada. The crest on its head allows it to communicate with others of its kind from a far distance, similar to the way elephants communicate with each other.
Then there’s Spinosaurus. Spinosaurus is one of a kind. “Its fossil was first discovered in North America about 112 million years ago,” Pedini said. He said the Spinosaurus was the longest dinosaur in the history of dinosaurs, which is to say not the longest living, but longest as in from head to tail.
“They stay in the bottom of rivers and swamps collecting fish very much like crocodiles,” Pedini said.
Kosmoceratops is a dinosaurs with elaborate horns. It strutted the earth 84 millions years ago, in what became the United States. Paleontologists think it horns weren’t sturdy enough for defense, but instead were used by females to attract male Kosmoceratops.
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