Ellice & Rosa McDonald Foundation PaleoZone

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a paleontologist?
The new museum includes a dedicated space for the only permanent dinosaur exhibit in the state of Delaware. The focal point of the PaleoZone is a dramatic presentation of creatures that lived right here in the Mid-Atlantic United States during the Cretaceous Period, including skeletons of the fearsome Dryptosaurus dinosaur, the flying “bat lizard” Nyctosaur, and the aquatic giant Mosasaur.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a paleontologist (scientist who studies ancient life)? Visitors will learn how to work like a paleontologist in the field. Discovery drawers in the PaleoZone use the museum’s fossil collection to learn how they are formed, the different types of fossils (imprint, internal, mineralized), and how they are connected to the natural world today.

Artist’s rendition of the new PaleoZone, created by exhibit designer Reich + Petch.

Fly through an artist’s rendition of the PaleoZone, developed by exhibit designers Reich + Petch. This model is as of April 2021.