Exhibition Alaska: Dinosaurs

Students digging in the groundDuring the Mesozoic Era, or Age of Dinosaurs (from 252 to 66 million years ago), much of Alaska was a polar forest teeming with dinosaurs. Scientists can paint a picture of what it looked like and what kinds of animals lived here.

The evidence comes from the bones and footprints they left behind. 

UAMN paleontologists collect fossils from every corner of Alaska - from the frigid North Slope to the mountains of Central and Southwest Alaska to the coastal forests of Southeast. The museum has the only research lab in the state dedicated to studying dinosaurs.

MEET ALASKA'S NEWEST DINOSAUR

Dinosaurs graphic image
Ugrunaaluk  (oo-GREW-na-luck)  kuukpikensis  (KOOK-pik-en-sis) 

Researchers at the University of Alaska Museum of the North have described a new species of hadrosaur, a type of duck-billed dinosaur that once roamed the North Slope of Alaska in herds. Now on display in the museum lobby, an original painting by Anchorage artist James Havens depicting Alaska's newest dinosaur species, along with skeletal mounts of three juveniles made from casts of the fossils used to describe the new species.

Read more here

 

Discover the world of Alaska dinosaurs.

Download our "Dino Fact Sheet"
Learn the difference between authentic Alaska dinosaurs and the marine reptiles that lived in the time of Ancient Alaska.

Read our blog.
See stories about some of the fossil discoveries in Alaska that have led to a new understanding about the state during the Age of Dinosaurs.

Learn more about the exhibit.
Ever since he arrived here, earth sciences curator Pat Druckenmiller has wanted to update the museum’s exhibits to include the story of Alaska’s dinosaurs.