when dinosaurs ruled the earth jurassic park

Today it is accepted that birds are the living descendants of dinosaurs, and the Tyrannosaurus may have had feathers too. The T-rex is shown standing tall on its back legs, supported by it tail, while recent reconstructions, most famously in the 1993 film Jurassic Park, show them in a forward stance with their tails high in the air. 47 years ago our knowledge of these creatures was not what it is today. The original picture caption says the elephant “shoots out her trunk and trumpets a challenge” but it could be that she was just reaching out for a tasty leaf from the trees. It must have been quite a shock for the elephant, coming face to face with an animal larger than herself. Sadly, this is the only photograph we have of Dudley’s dinosaur denizens – do you have any more? Perhaps you took some snaps during a visit to the zoo.

The picture was taken in September 1974, by a photographer from the Daily Mirror, when several large fibreglass models of prehistoric creatures were set up the grounds of Dudley Zoo. In picture one of the elephants at Dudley Zoo appears to be rather put out by a new arrival – an interloper from the Cretaceous period, Tyrannosaurus rex.

When dinosaurs ruled the earth jurassic park