Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum
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The Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum is a unique 63-acre state park located 20 minutes south of Hartford at 400 West Street, Rocky Hill, Connecticut. It contains one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America, with a fine display of early Jurassic fossil tracks in sandstone from about 200 million years ago.
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[edit] History
The Connecticut Valley has an extensive history of fossil discoveries dating to the Jurassic Period. Many specimens uncovered in brownstone quarries during the 1800s were included into the collections of museums throughout the world. History was made 1966 when hundreds of dinosaur tracks were exposed in Rocky Hill. [1] The dinosaur tracks in Rocky Hill were discovered by a bulldozer operator who was excavating the property for a new state building. This incredible site became Dinosaur State Park. The site officially became a Registered National Landmark in 1968. [2]
[edit] Dinosaur tracks
Dinosaur State Park is one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America. At present 500 tracks are now enclosed within a 55,000 square foot geodesic dome; the remaining 1,500 are buried for preservation. The park's in situ tracks are Eubrontes, named by Prof. Edward Hitchcock, pioneering student of fossilized tracks and one of America's first geologists. They range from 10 to 16 inches in length and are spaced 3.5 to 4.5 feet apart. The exhibit center also includes rock slabs with other Connecticut Valley fossil tracks, including large four-toed Otozoum tracks with clearly visible skin impressions. [3]
[edit] Arboretum
The arboretum's goal is to grow representatives of as many Mesozoic Era plant families as possible on the site. It currently contains more than two miles of nature trails with more than 250 species and cultivars of conifers, plus good collections of arborvitae, chamaecyparis, gingko, juniper, katsura, pine, and magnolia. Recent plantings have focused on woody plants from the Cretaceous angiosperm families. [4]
[edit] See Also
- Connecticut River Valley trackways
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- List of fossil sites (with link directory)
