KID STUFF : Resurrection of the Dinosaur

Much of what children glean about dinosaurs from books, movies, TV, toys, even museums, is inaccurate.

For instance, New York’s American Museum of National History’s Tyrannosaurus is propped up by a tail that is 12 feet too long, says Don Lessem, author of 18 dinosaur books. (The museum is correcting its exhibits.)

The inaccuracies are part of the reason for the Dinosaur Club, a group for children ages 5 to 12 founded by Lessem and leading paleontologists.

For an annual membership of $19.95, children receive 12 monthly issues of Dino Times, a colorful newsletter of accurate dinosaur information, puzzles, word games, drawings and a dinosaur poster.

Twenty percent of membership fees goes to the Dinosaur Society, a nonprofit group dedicated to research and educational programs.

That’s good news for dinosaur science, where a discovery is made every seven weeks. (Half of all dinosaur discoveries were made in the last 20 years.) Fewer than 30 dinosaur investigators worldwide research the massive reptiles on less than $1 million a year.

The Dinosaur Society will encourage manufacturers of dinosaur products to reflect current knowledge by issuing the society’s “official badge of approval.” In return, the society will ask merchandisers to donate a portion of revenues to dinosaur science.

For more information about the Dinosaur Club , write to : 338 Elm St., South Dartmouth, Mass. 02748 , or call (508) 990-8808.