Dinosaur Institute View the Collections | Natural History Museum of Los Angeles
A complete, exceptionally preserved skeleton of Platecarpus ictericus, a mosasaur (a kind of marine reptile) from the Late Cretaceous of Kansas.
Current Research
We are currently studying a new species of an ornithischian dinosaur (lower jaw pictured above). It is the smallest known dinosaur from North America and one of the tiniest dinosaurs ever found.
What are we preparing in the Dino Lab?
This bone is a humerus (upper arm bone) of a long necked brachiosaur. It takes a lot of work to clean a bone this big. Learn more >
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View the Collections
The Dinosaur Institute houses a world-class collection of tetrapods (vertebrate animals with four limbs) from the Mesozoic Era. This collection includes fine fossil specimens of dinosaurs (including birds), pterosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, mammals, and extinct marine reptiles. Some of these specimens will be prominently featured in the Museum's upcoming dinosaur galleries. In addition to skeletal specimens, the Institute also houses such rare fossil material as skin impressions and eggs. Among the Institute's unique treasures are a number of holotypes–specimens upon which a new species has been founded–as well as one of the few growth series of Tyrannosaurus rex, a series of fossils ranging from young juveniles through adults.
Below are some highlights of the collection from each of the periods of the Mesozoic Era (Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous).