The New Dinosaur Park in Prince George's Is Less Exciting Than It Sounds

D.C. residents this morning were greeted with the news that a 41-acre patch of land south of Laurel was just dedicated as "Dinosaur Park."

And I know what you're thinking: FINALLY! A real Jurassic Park conveniently located right here in the D.C. area. You were probably already boarding up the windows for when the raptors inevitably got loose. At worse, it's probably a dinosaur theme park, right?

Well, sorry giddy dino devotees, "Dinosaur Park" is so named because it's a historically lush source of fossils for the last 150 years.

"It's the most important dinosaur site east of the Mississippi River," said geologist Peter Kranz, president of the Dinosaur Fund, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that supports dinosaur fossil research and preservation in the region.

"Each time it rains, something new comes out," Kranz said.

Yeah, I guess that's pretty cool. I mean, everybody need fossils to look at and research. But still, you need to give it a slightly less deceptively awesome name. How's about "Fossil Park"? I think that would lead to less disappointment.

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