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Click on any image to enlarge [above left] Our final destination was South Dakota, and the beautiful Black Hills. Throughout the entire trip, I'd been eagerly anticipating our visit to the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City, SD — one of the world's finest small museums, and original home of Tyrannosaurus Sue. Expedition leader Tom Caggiano commented that the Institute "probably has more dinosaurs per square foot than any other museum in the world," and I think he's right! These two tyrannosaurs dominate the main display room [top right] Life-size models of ammonites and baculites, created by Neal Larson, give visitors an idea of how colorful the Cretaceous seas may have been [center right] Inside the Institute's impressive assembly room, where a full-size cast of Tyrannosaurus Stan nears completion [bottom right] Neal Larson, famed dinosaur hunter, author, and Vice President of the Black Hills Institute, treated us to a unique private tour of the Institute. Neal is one of the world's foremost authorities on ammonites and I found the Institute's encyclopedic collection of invertebrates to be even more impressive than its fabulous array of dinosaurs. |