A deep dive into the lore of DC’s official dinosaur — the ‘Capitalsaurus’

DC's official dinosaur: A deep dive into the lore of 'Capitalsaurus'

Did you know D.C. has its own official dinosaur?

It’s called “Capitalsaurus,” and it was officially recognized by the D.C. Council in the 1990s.

But it was discovered around 100 years before that, in 1898, when a work crew repairing sewer lines in D.C. accidentally excavated part of a dinosaur bone that sparked the curiosity of the entire region.

In this episode of “Matt About Town,” we’re unmasking the identity of Capitalsaurus, diving deep into the backstory behind this mysterious beast that still baffles paleontologists today.

While Capitalsaurus has been in the news before, this deep dive has an exclusive angle: access to the rare Capitalsaurus vertebrae bone, which can only be found deep inside the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History!

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Matt Kaufax

If there's an off-the-beaten-path type of attraction, person, or phenomenon in the DC area that you think more people should know about, Matt is your guy. As the features reporter for WTOP, he's always on the hunt for stories that provide a unique local flavor—a slice of life if you will.

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