In the previous photo, you could see the dinosaur but you couldn't tell he was cooling his prehistoric feet in a beautiful huge reflecting pool.   This serene scene does nothing to reveal that inside is the most intense and thrilling ride in Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom.

Hold on because it's going to be a bumpy ride!   I suppose there might be somewhere else where you can strap yourself into a really neat looking vehicle and speed back 65 million years to help save the last of the Iguanodons, but Countdown to Extinction is all you'll need.

At first you think you might have the chance to be an historic hero.   Then everything goes wrong as your vehicle hurtles out of control as you not only dodge meteors but later find yourself avoiding a bevy of dinosaurs.   There are many surprises on your ride through Countdown to Extinction

You must be at least 46" tall and seven years old to ride.

You may have been wondering what kind of dinosaur you've been clicking on and who is pictured above.   Pansophists consulted with our staff paleontologist, Mat, and he easily identified it for us:

This dinosaur is a Styracosaurus who lived during the Cretaceous period.   Noted for his spectacular set of horns, he has a main horn which points outward like that of the rhinoceros and exceptionally long spines which decorate the nape of his neck.

This large animal, whose size is between that of a male hippopotamus and a bull elephant, weighed approximately four tons and reached fifteen feet in length.   The males and the females had different spines.   Males had long spines pointing backward and it is believed that the spines of the females curved forward.   They were herbivores, vegetarians, and their spines and horns were handy for protection.

Specimens of this dinosaur were discovered in Alberta in 1913 and, until recently, Styracosaurus was considered a rare Ceratopsian which lived about 76 million years ago.   However, paleontologists are now studying a number of fairly recently discovered Styracosaurus skeletons that have been found in Montana.

• Scientific Name: Styracosaurus
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Dinosauria
• Ornithischian Ceratopian
• And darned cute, too
• But not as cute as Mat

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