I went to a small ‘dinosaur museum’ last summer in South Bend Indiana. I wasn’t expecting much, but found myself disappointed that all the large displays (except one) were ‘replicas’. I’m not sure why I felt this way, since all fossils are ‘copies’. But ‘replica’ makes it seem fake.

edit: I think this is being misinterpreted. In my mind, all fossils are ‘copies’ of the original. The bone is gone, replaced by stone. But for some reason, calling something a replica doesn’t carry the same…majesty as the original copy. Maybe it’s just the thought that it could have been tampered with when making it out of plastic or fiberglass.

    • groet@feddit.org
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      2 days ago

      Not sure if there are tar pits with dinosaur bones but there are bones (not petrified bones) of post-dinosaur megafauna like sabertooths in the La Break tar pit in Los Angeles. There probably exists a real dinosaur bone somewhere on the planet.

      • ThunderQueen@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Sure but i dont know of any that have been found. So none of the ones in museums would be “real” bones in the way most people would think. I know its sort of pedantic here but fossils are rocks not bones