Behind the Scenes: HMNS Hall of Paleontology

They say Jurassic Park is fictional, but did you know that dinosaurs aren’t actually extinct? They’ve evolved into birds, says David Temple, associate curator of paleontology at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, speaking to us from a dig site in north Texas. He’ll be back in town to lead the Behind-the-Scenes Tour of the museum’s Hall of Paleontology, talking about the interesting and weird stuff that isn’t written on the hall’s exhibit labels. Whether it’s about how the dinos pooped or the variety of dino teeth structures or even dinosaur sex (that had to be loud), Temple will keep it lively and interactive, changing the tour depending on the group’s interests. He compares the event to VH1’s Behind the Music and MTV’s Pop Up Video, where they tell you interesting, sometimes scandalous insider info. Except, of course, Temple will be talking about skeletal remains, and VH1 talks about, ah, musical skeletal remains.