Dinosaur Isle in Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom | Museum | Dinosaur Museum | Dinosaur Park

Dinosaur Isle Museum is located next to the sandy beach at Sandown Bay in England in the United Kingdom, within a short distance of the excellent geological exposures at Yaverland.

Dinosaur Isle, a purpose built interactive Museum displays over 1000 of the best fossil collections. An introductory exhibition gallery covers the geology and fossils of the Island in a walk back through time, taking the visitor from the Ice Age of the recent past, back to the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs lived. This leads to the large dinosaur gallery, which has exciting displays including real fossils, skeletal re-constructions, life sized fleshed re-constructions and two animatronic dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Isle is an all-year-round facility, combining entertainment, education and enjoyment. Displays use clever lighting, artwork, sound, smells and animatronic technology to create an exciting experience. As well as the displays, there is a working laboratory on view, and a room set aside for learning sessions. Full disabled access is available, and the facility has a large shop. Browns cafeteria is immediately next door to the site.

Our aim is to increase public awareness of the international importance of the Isle of Wight's diverse geology and palaeontology. The Museum's Community Learning service in Sandown Bay welcomes about 250 school and other groups in England each year.

In addition to our visitor and learning provision staff provide a number of other community services. The Curatorial staff provide an identification service for Isle of Wight fossils, and provide a resource for the Planning Department where changes may affect important geological exposures; this service is backed by specialist knowledge, maintained by a continuing interest in the Island's geological heritage. Dinosaur Isle works in partnership with other organizations to promote the conservation of the Island's rich geological and palaeontological diversity. This includes English Nature (Natural England), the National Trust, Isle of Wight Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty unit, I.W. Council Countryside Section and the Coastal Management Team.

Facts about dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are divided into two major groups: the Ornithischia (?bird-hipped?) and the Saurischia (?lizard-hipped?), because of the arrangement of their hip bones. Despite their name, the Ornithischia are not closely related to birds, but it is thought that birds evolved from a saurischian ancestor! The Ornithischia contains several groups: the Ornithopoda (?bird-footed?) the Marginocephalia (?margin headed?) and the Thyreophora (?shield-bearers?), which were all herbivorous. The Saurischia contains the carnivorous Theropoda (?beast-footed?) and the herbivorous Sauropodomorpha. All of these groups are represented on the Isle of Wight.

There are around 15 species of dinosaur currently recognised from the Isle of Wight. Here are some facts about the best-known of them.

We have a competitively-priced shop that caters for all tastes and budgets. We stock literature ranging from professional geology books to educational children?s books on prehistoric life, rocks and minerals. We have goods such as minerals, models, toys, stationery and jewellery that make excellent gifts, mostly priced with children in mind.