Dinosaur World (Florida)
Encyclopedia
Dinosaur World is the name of three outdoor dinosaur
theme parks. Locations include Plant City, Florida
, Glen Rose, Texas
, and Cave City, Kentucky
. The parks features over 150 life-size dinosaur sculptures created by Christer Svensson. The Florida location opened in November 1998, the Kentucky and Texas locations followed shortly after.
The sculptures are made from polystyrene
plastic and covered with fiberglass
. Each dinosaur is made in Sweden
before being shipped to the American parks. About three new dinosaur replicas are added each year. Visitors tour Dinosaur World on a boardwalk that takes them past stegosaurus
, brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex and other popular dinosaurs set among natural marshes with cypress
and gum trees.
, including the assurance that "there are very few 'millions of years ago' references" on the informational plaques for each exhibit. PZ Myers
, a biology professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris
, criticized Dinosaur World on his blog, Pharyngula
, calling the park's owners "sneaky" in reference to the park's purportedly deliberate intention to obscure a "religious agenda". In response to this criticism, Dinosaur World removed references to their support of creationism from the English version of their website, but left other language versions intact.
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
theme parks. Locations include Plant City, Florida
Plant City, Florida
Plant City is a city in Hillsborough County, Florida, in the United States, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. The population was 34,721 at the 2010 census....
, Glen Rose, Texas
Glen Rose, Texas
Glen Rose is a city in Somervell County, Texas, United States. It is the county seat of Somervell County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 2,444. Glen Rose is part of the Granbury micropolitan area.-19th century:...
, and Cave City, Kentucky
Cave City, Kentucky
Cave City is a city in Barren County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 1,880 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Glasgow Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Cave City is located at ....
. The parks features over 150 life-size dinosaur sculptures created by Christer Svensson. The Florida location opened in November 1998, the Kentucky and Texas locations followed shortly after.
The sculptures are made from polystyrene
Polystyrene
Polystyrene ) also known as Thermocole, abbreviated following ISO Standard PS, is an aromatic polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry...
plastic and covered with fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
. Each dinosaur is made in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
before being shipped to the American parks. About three new dinosaur replicas are added each year. Visitors tour Dinosaur World on a boardwalk that takes them past stegosaurus
Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period , some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well...
, brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex and other popular dinosaurs set among natural marshes with cypress
Cypress
Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs...
and gum trees.
Exhibits
- Dinosaur Walk - outdoor trail with life-size dinosaurs and explanatory signs
- Boneyard
- Fossil Dig
- Movie Cave
- Museum
Creationism
Dinosaur World asserts that the dinosaur models presented are "scientifically accurate", however, the theme park's website and gift store offer materials presenting a creationist interpretation, and advertises that the park hosts field trips for groups that teach a "literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation"Young Earth creationism
Young Earth creationism is the religious belief that Heavens, Earth, and all life on Earth were created by direct acts of the Abrahamic God during a relatively short period, sometime between 5,700 and 10,000 years ago...
, including the assurance that "there are very few 'millions of years ago' references" on the informational plaques for each exhibit. PZ Myers
PZ Myers
Paul Zachary "PZ" Myers is an American biology professor at the University of Minnesota Morris and the author of the Pharyngula science blog. He is currently an associate professor of biology at UMM, works with zebrafish in the field of evolutionary developmental biology , and also cultivates an...
, a biology professor at the University of Minnesota, Morris
University of Minnesota, Morris
University of Minnesota Morris is a public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges located in Morris, Minnesota, United States...
, criticized Dinosaur World on his blog, Pharyngula
Pharyngula (blog)
Pharyngula is a blog on FreeThoughtBlogs and ScienceBlogs run by PZ Myers. In 2006, the science journal Nature listed it as the top-ranked blog written by a scientist. Pharyngula also won the 2005 Koufax Award for Best Expert Blog. The blog topics are eclectic, delving into the non-scientific as...
, calling the park's owners "sneaky" in reference to the park's purportedly deliberate intention to obscure a "religious agenda". In response to this criticism, Dinosaur World removed references to their support of creationism from the English version of their website, but left other language versions intact.