April Archosaur Absurdity (AAA) is a free interactive activity we run throughout April. It’s a fun mix of a BBC nature documentary and the Mortal Kombat video game! Want to play? Click here to find out how!

READ THE SUMMARIES OF ROUNDS 1 AND 2 HERE: Battle Summary

Look out for the two semi-finals on April 24th and 26th. The FINAL is on April 28th!!

Read the Battles from Rounds 1 and 2 here: Battle 1, Battle 2, Battle 3, Battle 4, Battle #5, Battle 6, Battle 7, Battle 8, Battle 9, Battle 10, Battle 11, Battle 12

Read and watch the SEMI-FINALS here: Battle 13: Archosaurus vs. Quetzalcoatlus and Battle 14: Sarcosuchus vs Giganotosaurus

Read and watch the FINAL Battle! Battle 15: Quetzalcoatlus vs Sarcosuchus

What is it All About?

In AAA, sixteen archosaurs (fossil reptiles including dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and crocodiles) encounter each other one-on-one. The archosaurs are spilt up into four divisions, based on the geographic region of the world they are found in.

For each encounter, our paleontologists write a narrative or ‘battle’ (this is the BBC nature documentary part) based on what we know about these animals from the most up-to-date science. One of the archosaurs comes off ‘victorious’ in the encounter, and the victor goes on to encounter the next animal in their bracket. In total, there are fifteen battles that we will be posting throughout April.

The archosaurs in AAA2023 were selected based on the work of Canadian paleoartist Julius Csotonyi. Information about each animal can be found in our Creature Guide (click for the link).

We encourage teachers to get their classes involved in AAA2023, which can involve students selecting one of the sixteen competitors and researching them to guess who might win. We have put together a Teacher Guide (click for the link) to help explain to schools how this could work.

In 2023, we are very excited to be adding a new feature to AAA – animation! We have teamed up with Amplomedia in Edmonton to animate our final three battles, which will be posted on April 24^th, 26^th and 28^th.

AAA2023 is supported with a generous donation by International Paper.

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BATTLES ARE POSTED THROUGHOUT APRIL. Check them out on the website (see top of page) or follow along on our Facebook page.

Questions about AAA2023? Contact our curator: curator@dinomuseum.ca

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The History of AAA

April Archosaur Absurdity began as an online program developed during COVID in 2020. The inspiration came from Arizona State University’s March Mammal Madness, which itself was a play on the NCAA’s March Madness Basketball Tournament. In 2022, April Archosaur Absurdity was awarded the CASCADE Best Project Under $50 by the Canadian Association of Science Centres.

A Message from Amplomedia

“It’s no secret that you need sales to grow your business. At Amplomedia, we equip you with an entire marketing department and a strategy proven to deliver you more customers so you can scale your business and make more money. What started as a small animation team has grown into a full service marketing department that continues to help small and large organizations thrive. If you would like a video produced or just looking for some marketing advice, please contact sales@amplomedia.com.“