[Connected Travelogue #278] A Record of Visiting the Tokai University Natural History Museum

Last time, I fully enjoyed Miho no Matsubara, and to further satisfy my museum cravings, I cycled to a nearby museum.

With that said, let's first enter the Natural History Museum.

There are dinosaurs near the entrance.

Just this alone would likely get children excited.

And for the ticket, I naturally bought the two-museum joint ticket.

It is already 2:00 PM, but well, I should be able to see both, right? (Foreshadowing)

Upon entering the building, I headed to the exhibition room via an escalator with fantastical lighting.

I really like things like this...!

And then, some mysterious prehistoric creature suddenly appeared.

I have never heard the word Seymouria in my life, but this Seymouria seems to be a creature that possesses characteristics of both reptiles and amphibians.

Hearing the phrase "characteristics of both" reminds me of the coelacanth & echidna at the Numazu Deep Sea Aquarium.

By the way, the name Seymouria comes from the fact that it was discovered in Seymour, Texas.

Anyone who has played FF10 cannot help but react to this.

And this one, which suddenly increased in size, is the Scutosaurus.

It seems to have been a creature that ate plants in swamps, so it's safe even if you encounter one.

Furthermore, towards the end of the Paleozoic era, reptiles that evolved from amphibians advanced onto land, leaving the water's edge and expanding their habitat.

There are many differences between the two, but the difference you want to know is... the "jaw".

Reptiles differ from amphibians in that they can chew their food thoroughly.

And the reason they became able to do that is because they developed muscles to lift their lower jaw, but since a place for those muscles to fit was needed, dents and holes formed behind the eyes.

Having looked at dinosaur fossils until now, I had thought, "There are a lot of holes, aren't there...?," but I've only just learned that they were spaces for muscles to fit.

To acquire some kind of function, you have to provide space for it, I suppose.

Also, reptiles are grouped by the number of holes into diapsids, synapsids, and anapsids.

Well, anapsids don't have holes, do they? is the topic, but let's not think too deeply about it.

There's just, you know, a lot of things.

And the stage moves to the Main Exhibition Room.

I have a feeling there will be lots of dinosaurs I recognize...!

By the way, "stego" means "roof." And "
saurus" is Greek for "lizard."

In other words, Stegosaurus is a "roof lizard." (Sounds incredibly weak)

The reason it got this name is that at the time of excavation, there were only partial parts, so the idea was that these plate-like parts covered the body like a turtle, or wouldn't these plates fall over and become like a roof?, which is why it became "stego (roof)."

...Or rather, I realized I had never even looked up the name of such a famous dinosaur.

Nearby, there was also the super famous Triceratops.

The meaning of this name is "three-horned face."

The biological element of saurus (lizard) has already been stripped away, but this name is said to be a combination of the Ancient Greek words "tri", "kerato", and "ops".

It is a very easy-to-understand name, which is excellent.

Around 2010, there was talk that "isn't Torosaurus just a grown-up Triceratops?", but in the latest research, the consensus seems to be that they are likely separate species after all.

Dinosaur research seems to have many new discoveries ahead due to technological progress, making it a field that will continue to be exciting.

The fact that such massive creatures were once roaming everywhere is just overflowing with romance, but

Speaking of huge dinosaurs...!!

Yes, it has to be Tyrannosaurus!!

This majestic style!!!

( It's a Tarbosaurus... )

......The world is still full of things I don't know.

Realizing that I must continue to learn, to be continued...!

(*Tarbosaurus is, after all, the strongest in Asia, so it's amazing!)