Springfield Dinosaur Eggs Museum Exhibit

A new exhibit featuring fossilized dinosaur eggs and nests from around the world.

mural of dinosaurs and boy touching a fossil

Photograph by sILvER PLUME EXHIBITIONS

Tiny Titans: Dinosaur Eggs and Babies, a new hands-on exhibit at the Springfield Science Museum, brings the prehistoric creatures closer to life. Visitors get to see a variety of fossilized dinosaur eggs and nests collected from across the globe. (That includes a sauropod’s 75-million-year-old bowling-ball-sized egg from Argentina, a cluster of ornithopod eggs laid from China, and, also from China, 18-inch eggs—the longest ever found—from a giant species of oviraptor. These objects offer new perspectives on how dinosaurs reproduced, evolved, and behaved. Lifelike embryos and hatchlings on display highlight nesting and birthing processes, while giant colorful posters contextualize dinosaur habitats. The exhibit also explains how in 1993 American fossil-preparer Charlie Magovern was working on a block of eggs unearthed in China’s Henan Province, when he discovered a nearly complete, fully articulated skeleton of an embryo encased in the stone surrounding the egg—the first of its kind. The embryo was officially identified in 2017 as a new oviraptor species and named Beibeilong sinensis (“baby dragon from China”). This family-friendly exhibit also offers chances to touch replicas of bones and nests, dig for fossils, and learn more about current research into the lives and habits of these ever-fascinating extinct animals. (May 25-September 1)

Read more articles by Nell Porter-Brown

You might also like

Rachel Ruysch’s Lush (Still) Life

Now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, a Dutch painter’s art proved a treasure trove for scientists.

What of the Humble Pencil?

Review: At the Harvard Art Museums’ new exhibit, drawing takes center stage

A Paper House In Massachusetts

The 1920s Rockport cottage reflects resourceful ingenuity.

Most popular

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

How Maga Went Mainstream at Harvard

Trump, TikTok, and the pandemic are reshaping Gen Z politics.

The Harvard Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Explore More From Current Issue

Whimsical illustration of students rushing through ornate campus gate from bus marked “Welcome New Students.”

Highlights from Harvard’s Past

The Medical School goes coed, University poet wins Nobel Prize. 

Renaissance portrait of young man thought to be Christoper Marlowe with light beard, wearing ornate black coat with gold buttons and red patterns.

Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival

Without Christopher Marlowe, there might not have been a Bard.

Man, standing in small group of people outside the courthouse, holding a sign that reads "HANDS OFF HARVARD" in red letters

Harvard’s Summer In Court

What Columbia’s settlement means for the University