Isabella, age 3 asked,

Why can't we pet the dinosaurs?

Here's our paleontologists' response,

You can pet dinosaurs!

There are two easy ways to pet dinosaurs:

1. Visit The Children's Museum of Indianapolis! You can touch bones from a duckbill dinosaur, a longneck dinosaur called Barosaurus, and even a bone of a Tyrannosaurus rex!   
2. Pet a bird! There is fossil evidence that some dinosaurs had feathers, and we certainly know that birds and dinosaurs are related. In fact most paleontologists believe dinosaurs are not really extinct and that their descendants are birds! So petting a bird is actually petting a dinosaur!

We suggest only petting a bird with the guidance of a responsible grown-up.  Just like a T. rex, some birds can be a little…bitey. So be careful.