TAMPA, Fla. — Straight out of the South Dakota badland, we’ve got a new Tampa Bay resident. It’s Big John.

“He’s the world’s largest triceratops ever discovered, said Kate White, Vice President of Marketing and Creative at the Glazer Children’s Museum. “He has the Guinness World Record for that.”

The dinosaur is on loan from a Tampa family. They purchased Big John in 2021 to share him with the Bay area. The approximately six-ton creature was an herbivore. But don’t be fooled. The vegetarian was no gentle giant.

This dude did battle.

There is an injury on Big John’s frill—that’s the part of his skull that rises up from his skull and fans out. And it looks like a pickle. But even more important. it looks like a triceratops horn puncture.

“And it’s the injury in the shape of a triceratops horn,” said White. “What that means is he got that battling another triceratops.”

It means they could be territorial about land and mates, just like scientists theorized, making Big John an even more precious find.

And even more important for little learners to see. So of course, there are tunnels under the dinosaur, as well as little viewing bubbles where you can be eye level with a toe bone.

“We really wanted to make sure that children could get up close and personal with this dinosaur,” said White. “And see it from different perspectives.”

One fossil called copperlite is actually fossilized dinosaur poop. But most children don’t know that. Then they touch it and find out what it is.

White says you have to make it fun for the kids. She’s been a part of the Glazer Children’s Museum for six and a half years. She knows the building’s secrets. including who to ask for the keys to the roof.

That’s where we’ll find “MegalaJohn.” He’s a 50-foot inflatable triceratops. And he changes the Tampa skyline.It’s just to remind people that Big John is at the Glazer for the next three years.

The Glazer Children’s Museum is located in downtown Tampa—just off Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.
Look for the big roof triceratops.