Ice Dinosaurs come to life at Academy of Natural Sciences

Dinosaurs of long ago and far away will be brought to life at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Ice Dinosaurs, an immersive new exhibit opening Sept. 28.

Visitors can explore paleontology’s final frontier in this exhibit that will transport them to the Late Cretaceous period in the Arctic Circle, where dinosaurs lived year-round in extreme polar environments. Ice Dinosaurs brings this era to life with animatronic dinosaurs, engaging stories and real fossils, skeletons and museum casts.

“Ice Dinosaurs is an immersive display of some of the most fascinating creatures we have had the opportunity to showcase at the Academy of Natural Sciences. It appeals to the paleontologist in all of us by delivering an experience for all ages while expanding the way you will think about dinosaurs and the arctic,” said Amber Guzzi, an educator at the Academy of Natural Sciences, in a statement. “What kind of creatures had what it took to withstand the icy conditions of the Arctic Circle? The Ice Dinosaurs exhibit at the Academy brings guests into that environment to see for themselves what paleontologists have uncovered.”

This new educational exhibit follows a family of Troodons —large, feathered raptors — to show how they survived, made nests, hibernated, hunted and cared for their young, all in a place that experienced darkness for half the year. Ice Dinosaurs showcases the changing geography of ancient snow-covered lands with interactive maps and allows guests to explore fossils and casts to learn about the real force of dinosaur’s teeth, the size of their eggs and how their vision worked. The exhibit contains interactive and immersive experiences including petting a baby dinosaur and crawling through a dinosaur burrow, all among life-like moving creatures.

Built around groundbreaking discoveries that challenge traditional understandings of paleontology, Ice Dinosaurs celebrates the unique adaptations of real polar dinosaurs who lived in cold, dark and snowy conditions long ago.

Ice Dinosaurs opens at the Academy on Sept. 28, 2024, and runs through May 4, 2025 in the Special Exhibit Gallery. For more information, visit ansp.org