An auto show for the (prehistoric) ages

Dinosaurs abound at this year's Detroit auto show.

No, this isn't the start of a joke about local automakers living in the past or President Joe Biden's visit last week. Dozens of lifelike dinosaur replicas are scattered around the convention hall as part of an attraction organizers are calling Dinosaur and Off-Road Vehicle Encounter. There's also a human in a velociraptor suit, complete with sound effects, roaming the floor.

The dinos, which are up to 28 feet tall and 60 feet long, surprised and confused a number of journalists in attendance. Some wondered if they were intended to hype Ford Motor Co.'s line of Raptor high-performance pickups. Others assumed they represented the fossil fuels that much of the industry is moving away from.

According to show organizers, the dinosaurs are simply among a number of new features meant to draw more families to the event, which has become more consumer-focused amid dwindling automaker participation. In a news release, organizers called the dinos "a perfect complement to the rugged off-road SUVs on display" and to another novelty exhibit, a car from the 1994 film The Flintstones.

The Mesozoic experience includes interactive and educational activities, hands-on crafts, fossil digs, T-Rex ATV rides, dinosaur scooter rides and an animatronic dinosaur band.