The term dinosaur comes from the ancient Greek root words deinos, or “terrible,” and sauros, or “lizard.” As our understanding of these prehistoric creatures has become more refined over time, attempts to create life-size models of them have, more or less, increased in accuracy and lifelike quality. Of course, many of the thousands of dinosaur statues in the world have been made with an eye more toward entertainment than accuracy. For your viewing enjoyment, a collection of photographs from the past century of large-scale mock dinosaurs, constructed to varying degrees of accuracy and based on what was known at the time.
Terrible Lizards: Dinosaur Statues of Questionable Accuracy
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Read moreAn aging version of a dinosaur at Dinosaur Land in White Post, Virginia #
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Read moreHarold's Auto Center, a Sinclair gas station on Route 19 in Spring Hill, Florida, photographed in 1979. The dinosaur species is indeterminate. #
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Read moreA large model inspired by a Tyrannosaurus rex bares its teeth at the Karpin Abentura park in the Karrantza valley, Spain, on July 26, 2014. #
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Read moreOriginal caption, March 17, 1922: "The Iguanadons which lived during the Wealden formation would, if living today, soon be extinct, for despite its dynamic size it could not hold its own against modern firearms. However its enormous size and strength would furnish ample sport for the modern huntsman." #
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Read moreA concrete dinosaur statue stands next to a building destroyed by strong winds brought about at the height of Typhoon Bopha at a playground in New Bataan, southern Philippines, on December 9, 2012. #
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Read moreA man takes a photo of a friend beside dinosaur statues at Luneta Park in Manila on May 29, 2010. #
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Read moreA 60-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus appears behind a restaurant in Cabazon, California, on May 19, 2000. A. The dinosaur is one of two constructed by the late Claude K. Bell as roadside attractions west of Palm Springs. #
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Read moreBritain's Queen Elizabeth II appears to be watched as she visits a dinosaur exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum in York, England, on July 27, 2000. #
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Read moreOriginal caption, July 27, 1931: "Step right up ladies and gentlemen, and take a peak at Dolores, the monster of the prehistoric ages who seems to be making a delicious meal of Thelma Corey. This 47-foot animal is all but alive, and appears at the new stage show at the Roxy Theatre, '50 Million Years Ago.' The animal virtually lives, breathes and snorts fire and carries people on his back." #
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Read moreVisitors enter the mouth of a dinosaur model at Evolution Park in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta on January 1, 2003. #
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Read moreA walk-in Brontosaurus at a prehistoric museum in Cabazon, California, photographed in 1978 #
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Read moreA scene at Prachinburi Dinosaur Park in Thailand, photographed on January 6, 2018 #
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Read moreOriginal caption, February 1927: "A model of a prehistoric Icthyosaurus is dragged from its pond in the grounds of Crystal Palace, London, for its annual clean. The 'keeper' is being helped by some of the local police force." #
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Read moreThe Bayville dinosaur, outside of Kim Carpeting and Linoleum in Bayville, New Jersey, photographed in 1984 #
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Read moreThe "world's largest dinosaur" stands in Drumheller, Alberta. #
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Read moreA boy rides a mechanical dinosaur at a park during Spring Festival in Beijing on January 30, 2009. #
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Read moreConcrete Sinclair Oil dinosaurs sit on a hill above Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1945. #
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Read moreWorkmen carry parts of dinosaur models designed by Louis Paul Jonas for the New York World's Fair in 1963. #
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Read moreA red-eyed dinosaur towers over the desert near the San Andreas Fault on July 1, 2006, in Cabazon, California. #
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Read moreDinosaurs make an appearance during the closing ceremony of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 24, 2002. #
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Read moreA dinosaur stands along Highway 40 in Utah, photographed in 1974 #
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Read moreAn abandoned building with a dinosaur statue at an old park outside Ksar Ouled Debbab, Tunisia #
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Read moreOriginal caption: "A General Electric motor and fan are installed inside a 25-foot-long model. This dinosaur is part of an exhibit for the Sinclair Refining Company at the Century of Progress Exposition in 1933." #
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Read moreA man takes a photograph of a fiberglass model of a dinosaur at the abandoned Plänterwald amusement park in Berlin on January 5, 2013. #
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Read moreA Brontosaurus awaits visitors at Dinosaur Park on Route 23 in Ossineke, Michigan, in 1988. #
John Margolies / Library of Congress
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