Dinosaurs are making a comeback, and they’re doing it right here in SoFlo. They’re awesome, magnificent, and best of all, they won’t bite your head off — probably. Deco’s chief archaeologist, Chris Van Vliet-osaurus, has the discovery.

Watch out! There’s life-sized dinosaurs here in Davie. It’s like “Jurassic Park” — of course, without the inherent risk of getting eaten by a dinosaur. Welcome to the Lost World of Dinosaurs at Flamingo Gardens!

For the next five months, Flamingo Gardens in Davie is home to these beasts: 27 incredibly realistic dinosaurs.

Robert DePalma, paleontologist: “You’ll see fleshed reconstructions of dinosaurs from around the country, and these things are the greatest ones of the time because they’re pretty accurate.”

A lot of times, you’ll see displays like this indoors, but not here at Flamingo Gardens.

Cori Glick, special events coordinator: “We chose places where they kind of look like they’re in their natural habitat, so you get to wander around. You get see them in kind of like their natural setting.”

Chris Van Vliet: “You know what you call a sleeping dinosaur? A dino-snore!”

*Ba dum tss*

Good thing these dinosaurs look better than Chris’ jokes sound.

Chris Van Vliet: “These dinos — can I call them dinos?”

Robert DePalma: “You can call them dinos.”

Chris Van Vliet: “These dinos are very large. Are these life-size?”

Robert DePalma: “They are life-size, and some dinos are small. Others are large. We’ve got both sizes here, so you can get a good cross section of what was around.”

Chris Van Vliet: “Now, don’t get me wrong. The replicas are cool, but when you come inside here, these are actual dinosaurs.”

Robert DePalma: “This is a museum exhibit in there, so you’re seeing probably the greatest accumulation of real dinosaurs in the state at this time.”

Inside you’ll see fossils, props from “Jurassic Park,” and you’ll even get to do the work of a paleontologist.

Chris Van Vliet: “This is the best kind of sign you want to see when you’re around dinosaur bones. You’re allowed to touch this one. Boney!”

Chris Van Vliet: “Were there ever dinosaurs in Florida at any point in time?”

Robert DePalma: “Unless they were on a raft, no. Florida was underwater at the time.”

The Lost World of Dinosaurs exhibition will be available at Flamingo Gardens until Labor Day on Sept. 2. The exhibition is included in the price of admission.

FOR MORE INFO

Flamingo Gardens
3750 S Flamingo Rd.
Davie, FL 33330
954-473-2955
https://www.flamingogardens.org/lost-world-of-dinosaurs.html

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