Dino exhibit showcasing Mexico’s paleontology opens in Los Pinos

June 14, 2023

Dinosaurs — 13,000 visitors are reported to have seen the life-size dinosaur replicas at "Dinos en Los Pinos," which opened Sunday. (Centro Cultural Los Pinos)

The former presidential residence of Los Pinos in Mexico City is currently hosting a dinosaur exhibition to showcase pieces recovered and reconstructed by paleontologists in Mexico.

Entrance is free, and the exhibition will run through October 23.

La mejor inauguración que he vivido pic.twitter.com/KCyqGaAbGj

— Marcelo Ebrard C. (@m_ebrard) June 10, 2023

Some 13,000 people arrived for the exhibition’s first day, including former Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who resigned on Monday to focus on his candidacy in Morena’s presidential primary race.

“This is the best inauguration event I’ve ever attended,” Ebrard tweeted alongside a photograph of the ribbon cutting.

The exhibition, titled “Dinos en los Pinos: Dimensiones prehistóricas” (Dinos at Los Pinos: Prehistoric Dimensions), showcases over 50 pieces, including fossils, life-sized skeletons, bones, artwork and paleontological remains of dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus rex and Coahuilaceratops magnahorn and ancient sharks like Aquilolamna milacrae. Many of these pieces belong to the Museo del Desierto (Desert Museum) in Saltillo, Coahuila, which participated in the exhibit design for “Dinos en Los Pinos,” and some were only recently found in northern Mexico.

Realistic and interactive representations of different dinosaurs can also be seen in the center’s green areas, as can other figures modified by Indigenous Wixárika artists. The Wikárika dinosaurs are decorated as alebrijes, a classic form of Mexican folk sculpture, with wings and bright colors.

Dinosaur statue at Los Pinos. — “Dinos en Los Pinos” will run through late October.

The exhibition is mainly located in Los Pinos’ Miguel Alemán house. Access is through Gate 1 or Gate 5 of the compound. Los Pinos is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

This is the second time that the Desert Museum has set up an exhibition of this kind in Mexico City. The first, called “Huellas de la Vida” (Footprints of Life), took place in 2009. It remained on display in the Zócalo for 102 days and broke attendance records, attracting more than 13 million visitors. Coincidentally, it was also inaugurated by Ebrard during his tenure as mayor of Mexico City.

With reports from El Universal, Aristegui Noticias