Dinosaur Family Fun Weekend

May 8 and 9, the ROM celebrates new dinosaur exhibition with special programming, free with ROM admission

On May 8 and 9, 2010 the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) presents Dinosaur Family Fun Weekend, featuring a new exhibition, free symposium and special dino-themed activities. Weekend visitors will be the first to see the ROM’s newest Out of the Vaults exhibition, Dinosaur Eggs & Babies: Remarkable Fossils from South Africa, on display for a limited time in the James and Louise Temerty Gallery of the Age of Dinosaurs and Reed Gallery of the Age of Mammals. For more information and full schedule of Dinosaur Family Fun Weekend programming, visit www.rom.on.ca/dinoeggs.

FAMILY PROGRAMMING

On May 8 and 9 visitors of all ages can enjoy mammoth dinosaur fun included free with ROM admission. From 11 am to 4 pm all weekend long, young visitors can dress up as dinosaurs, put together 3-D puzzles and make dinosaur crafts to take home. On Sunday, May 9 at noon and 2 pm, Dr. Scott Sampson, star of the popular kids’ show Dinosaur Train, offers a special dinosaur presentation emceed by TVOKids host Kara Harun.

New Baby Dinosaur Mascot Hatching and Naming Contest

The ROM celebrates Mother’s Day with a special milestone: a new baby dino mascot! ROM visitors are invited to watch the “hatching” at 1:15 pm on May 9. Offered in cooperation with TVOKids, children under the age of 18 are invited to enter a contest to name the new baby dino mascot. To enter, visit www.rom.on.ca/dinoeggs/contest.php. The winning name will be announced Sunday May 9 at the event. TVOKids Host Kara Harun will attend the “hatching”, as well as ROM dinosaur mascots Gordo and Gertie! The new baby mascot is loosely based on a Massospondylus, a plant-eating South African dinosaur and the species featured in the Dinosaur Eggs & Babies exhibition.

Out of the Vaults: Dinosaur Symposium

Join four leading palaeontologists on Saturday, May 8 from 11 am to 5 pm as they review their recent work in a special free all-day dinosaur symposium to mark the unveiling of Dinosaur Eggs & Babies: Remarkable Fossils from South Africa. Participants include Robert Reisz speaking on South African dinosaur eggs, Scott Sampson on dinosaurs of the “lost continent”, David Evans describing how to find and dig up dinosaur nests and Jason Head on dinosaur-eating snakes. Entry to the Dinosaur Symposium is free, no Museum admission is required. For more information call 416.586.5797 or e-mail programs@rom.on.ca.

OTHER DINOSAUR PROGRAMMING AND EVENTS IN MAY

Dinosaur-themed ROM Sleepover

ROM Sleepovers provide VIP after-hours access to Museum galleries where participants can touch real fossils, dig for dinosaur bones, and make dino creations for home, gobble up a midnight snack, belt out their favourite tunes at a karaoke PJ party and more. A dinosaur-themed ROM Sleepover takes place on Friday, May 7 beginning at 5 pm. Sleepovers includes Museum admission for the evening of the event as well as the following day. The cost for both adults and children is $75, members and groups of 10 or over $67.50. Another dinosaur-themed ROM Sleepover takes place on Friday, June 4. For more information call 416.586.5797 or visit www.rom.on.ca/programs/rom_kids/sleepovers.php.

How to Build a Dinosaur with Jack Horner

On Tuesday, May 25, from 7 to 8 pm, palaeontologist Jack Horner lectures on his belief that if certain genetic “switches” are flipped in a chicken embryo that science might be able to hatch a baby dinosaur. He argues that since birds are descendants of dinosaurs, they have dinosaur DNA. By locating certain genes and turning them off, dinosaur characteristics such as a long tail, teeth and fingered hands, will reappear. With the knowledge of controlling genes, there is the potential for such achievements as spinal cord and bone regeneration. Jack Horner is the Regents Professor of Palaeontologist at Montana State University and Curator of Palaeontology at the Museum of the Rockies. He was a consultant for the 1993 film Jurassic Park and co-author (with James Gorman, New York Times deputy science editor) of How to Build a Dinosaur. Dr. Horner will sign his book after the talk. Admission is $28 for the public; $25 for ROM members and students. For more information call 416.586.5797 or e-mail programs@rom.on.ca. To register online, visit www.rom.on.ca/programs/lectures/index.php.

Mongolian Dinosaurs: A Tour Through the Gobi

As part of the ROM’s ongoing Contexts lecture series included free with admission the last Wednesday of every month, on Wednesday May 26 at 11 am David Evans, Associate Curator of Vertebrate Palaeontology, presents a photographic tour of some of the best-known Mongolian dinosaur localities from his trip to the Gobi last summer. Mongolia is one of the great places in the world for palaeontology, especially when it comes to dinosaurs. There are enormous exposures of Cretaceous rocks, many of which are chock-full of fossils, and have produced some of the most famous and scientifically important finds in the history of dinosaur science.

ROM RESTAURANTS AND RETAIL

Both ROM restaurants present menu options during Dinosaur Family Fun Weekend and the run of Dinosaur Eggs & Babies that pay homage to eggs. c5 Restaurant Lounge, the Museum’s fine dining experience located atop the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, offers a limited-time Lobster Carbonara lunch special featuring boar bacon, cured egg yolk and hot mizuna for $24, plus taxes and gratuities. Visitors to ROM’s casual family restaurant Food Studio Café can try the “Bronto” ribs with egg fried rice for $9.95, plus tax, a gouda, leek and asparagus egg tart for $5.95, plus tax or the “Dino” egg custard for $2.25, plus tax. The ROM Museum Store offers a variety of dinosaur and egg-related merchandise including plush toys, educational puzzles and games, candy and more.

DINOSAUR EGGS & BABIES: REMARKABLE FOSSILS FROM SOUTH AFRICA

As part of the ongoing Out of the Vaults series offering visitors an opportunity to see exceptional and rarely-seen artifacts, Dinosaur Eggs & Babies: Remarkable Fossils from South Africa displays the oldest fossilized dinosaur eggs with embryos ever found, as well as other impressive discoveries never before displayed to the public. Approximately 190 million years old and belonging to the prosauropod Massospondylus, many of the rare specimens were discovered in the last six years at a site called Rooidraai in Golden Gate Highlands National Park, South Africa, with the help of ROM palaeontologists. All these discoveries have provided researchers with a new understanding of dinosaur growth and reproductive behaviour at the dawn of their era. Dinosaur Eggs & Babies will be on display until July 4, 2010.