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The Big Dig

Exhibit

Three children looking for fossils in the big dig, all wearing goggles.

The Big Dig

Credit: Jeff Fusco for ANS 

Information

Dates

Permanent Exhibit

Location

Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Cost

Included with General Admission

What’s it like to discover a dinosaur? You might find out in The Big Dig.

Imagine you are clad with expedition attire and goggles, your fossil brush in hand. You step gingerly over some rocks as you take in the windswept badlands of New Mexico. In the distance, something catches your eye. You see a promising shape slightly exposed on the brown, dry terrain. You are a curious paleontologist, and you simply must find out what it is.

In The Big Dig, you’ll use a brush to uncover dinosaur bones. You might uncover a Lambeosaurus skull or an Ornithomimus arm and claw! See if you can identify your discovery by comparing your finds to the graphics.

Digging isn’t the only thing to occupy explorers in The Big Dig. A dramatic play wall with magnetic, movable dinosaur silhouettes covers the wall opposite the digging space. Placed upon a charming Cretaceous landscape, dinosaur magnets that match the species in the dig are labeled with a scientific name. 

So what’s hiding under the rocks? Will you uncover a duckbill dinosaur or a Tyrannosaurus rex? Find out during your next visit.