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Text: Gallery Interactives. Fossils. Games and facts from our galleries. Illustrations: Silhouettes of animals, from our gallery icons.
These interactives originate in the galleries of the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Even if you can't make it to the museum, you can enjoy a virtual experience!
Dinosaur Primer
An image from the interactive.
Be the Artist!
Nobody knows what colour dinosaurs are. Give free rein to your imagination and "paint" them yourself. (1.49 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Dinos in Time
Some dinosaurs have accidentally time-travelled to the present. Help them get back home. (2.44 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Unusual Suspects
Some dinosaurs have escaped and are loose in Ottawa. Help Dr. Von Claus identify them according to descriptions from witnesses. (1.32 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
What Is a Dinosaur?
Not all prehistoric animals were dinosaurs. Test and improve your knowledge of dinosaurs. (646 Kb)
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An image from the interactive.
Who's Hip?
Saurischian and ornithischian dinosaurs have different hip designs. Help Dr. D. with dinosaur hip replacements. (1.43 Mb)
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Horned Dinosaurs
An image from the interactive.
Digging in the Dirt
Join palaeontologists in the field and learn how fossils are excavated. (777 Kb)
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An image from the interactive.
Eating with Scissors
How did horned dinosaurs chew their food? (2.73 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Foot Bones
Place the bones of a Vagaceratops foot into the footprint in the correct order. (3.47 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Tracks
Calculate a horned dinosaur's walking speed based on its footprints. (687 Kb)
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Marine Cretaceous
An image from the interactive.
Large Invertebrates
Discover some of the large invertebrates that inhabited the Cretaceous seas. (627 Kb)
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An image from the interactive.
Marine Reptiles
Giant marine reptiles were the top predators of the oceans and seaways of the Mesozoic Era. (3.36 Mb)
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K-T Globetrotting
An image from the interactive.
Crater Tour
Descend to the sea floor to learn amazing things about the Chicxulub crater. (16.35 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Declining Diversity
Were dinosaurs already on the way out before the meteorite hit? (13.16 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Hotspot Today
What are "hotspots" and where can you see their effects today? (763 Kb)
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An image from the interactive.
Impact Tour
Whoa! Did you catch the size of that asteroid? Figure out how big it was, judging by the crater it made at Chicxulub. (1.73 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Iridium Spike
Test the iridium level of a spot along the K-T boundary for a signal from outer space. (554 Kb)
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An image from the interactive.
Lava, Lava and More Lava
Calculate how much basalt lava is contained in the Deccan Plateau. (669 Kb)
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An image from the interactive.
Volcanism and Extinction
Did volcanism cause the K-T extinction? Find out more, and learn about the relevance of the Deccan eruptions to the K-T extinction. (24.65 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Winners and Losers
Discover which animals and plants survived the extinction marked by the K-T boundary. (16.84 Mb)
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Fossil Leaves
An image from the interactive.
Insect Damage
Hone your palaeobotany detective-skills. Identify the insect that damaged this leaf! (5.0 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Leaf Litter
Explore the long-lost forests of the Arctic's Axel Heiberg Island by looking at fossil leaves. (1.94 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Leaf Quiz
What climate did these leaves grow in? Reconstruct long-vanished ecosystems by looking at fossil leaves. (1.04 Mb)
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Mammal Primer
An image from the interactive.
Hair and Fur
Learn about the evolution and variety of mammal hair. (1.32 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
History of Milk
Milk is made up of the same ingredients in all mammals. Learn how the recipes vary, depending on the mammals' needs and lifestyles. (7.08 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Mammal Skulls
Discover the parts of the mammalian skull that make a mammal a mammal. (930 Kb)
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An image from the interactive.
Teeth: The Oral Toolbox
Learn about the different types of teeth, and then match each tooth to its mammal. (1.07 Mb)
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Changing Climates
An image from the interactive.
Climate Past
Watch the transformation of the continents through time and learn about the Earth's changing climates. (4.37 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Climate Simulator
Experiment with different combinations of the factors that affect climate, and see the effect on the Earth! (1.67 Mb)
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Rethinking Dinosaurs
An image from the interactive.
Dino-Bird Connection
Explore the relationship between birds and dinosaurs. (1.3 Mb)
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An image from the interactive.
Feathers and Flight
Compare different types of dinosaur feathers to the feathers of modern birds in order to explore the origins of flight. (4.01 Mb)
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You must have Adobe Flash 8 or greater in order to see these online games.
You can download this software from the Adobe Web site.