Dinosaur Valley State Park From Dinoland to Dino Valley — Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
- ️Wed Jun 13 2018
Did you know two dinosaurs live at a Texas state park? Dinosaur sculptures, that is.
Dinosaur mascot
The Sinclair Oil Corporation has used a brontosaurus logo since the 1930s. For the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, Sinclair created nine life-sized dinosaurs to exhibit.
Millions of people admired the dinosaurs during the fair. After a tour around the country, Sinclair donated the sculptures to several museums and parks. (Watch a video of the dinosaurs at the Sinclair exhibit in the 1964 World’s Fair.)
Two of the dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Brontosaurus, made their way to Dinosaur Valley State Park where they welcome visitors to this day. Sadly, the animatronic jaw movement of the T-Rex was removed.
Losing his mind: Brontosaurus’ replacement head
In the latter half of the 20th century, scientists discovered that sculptors had used the wrong skull for the models of the Brontosaurus (which is sometimes known as an Apatosaurus).
To make the model more scientifically correct, exhibit staff with Texas Parks and Wildlife created a new head for the sculpture. Alas, the new head didn’t match the rest of the dinosaur’s body, so staff put the original head back on.
The replacement head now rests with the historical collections of TPWD in Austin.