Gallery of Paleontology, 1907 vs. a recent picture of Dinosaurs in Their Time. It is amazing how much one museum can change in a century!
dinosaurs in their time
Dippy Casts Abroad
While Dippy (Diplodocus carnegii) was making his grand debut in Pittsburgh, he caught the attention of a king across the ocean. King Edward VII asked Andrew Carnegie for a dinosaur for England. Dr. William Holland, the director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, suggested that the museum could give the king a cast—a copy made from plaster.
Under the supervision of Carnegie scientists, the Diplodocus carnegii model was erected in the Natural History Museum in London.
But Dippy’s popularity overseas did not stop there. Governments of many nations asked Carnegie if they could have their own copies. One cast famously premiered in the National Museum of Natural History in Paris to cries of “Vive la Dippy!”
Today, replicas of Dippy stand in the national museums of Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Russia, Spain, Argentina, and Mexico. Even Carnegie Museum of Natural History made a life-size statue of Dippy that stands on Forbes Avenue outside of the museum in 1999. You might know him from the fun scarves he wears!
Of course, the original Dippy still calls Carnegie Museum of Natural History home and remains the most famous piece of our massive collection.
Andrew Carnegie
In 1898, Andrew Carnegie sent this newspaper clipping to Carnegie Museum of Natural History Director Dr. William J. Holland with a $10,000 check and a note that read, “buy this for Pittsburgh.”
T-Rex teeth in Dinosaurs in their Time
T-Rex teeth in Dinosaurs in their Time at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.
(Photo by Josh Franzos)
A Dino in a ‘Death Pose’
This immature Camarasaurus’ uncomfortable stance isn’t caused by a crick in his long neck. It was discovered in what paleontologists call the “death pose.” Many dinosaur skeletons like this one are found with their neck arching back dramatically towards the tail. This specimen in Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Dinosaurs in Their Time is displayed almost exactly as it was discovered.
The death pose may have been caused by the dinosaur’s final thrashing movements before it died. Scientists note that this pose is only seen in animals with high metabolic rates, suggesting that dinosaurs such as Camarasaurus may have been active creatures.
Crafting Lost Dinosaur Bones
The most amazing thing about the skeletons in our Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibit is that the majority of their bones are the real deal.
The second most amazing thing about those skeletons is that whenever a bone was missing, someone had to create a cast of that bone from scratch.
Dan Pickering is one of those craftsman. Dan, whose been part of the museum’s PaleoLab team since 2005, is an artist, a sculptor by training.
He first used his skills in the exhibit department, but when the overhaul of Dinosaur Hall and its inhabitants became a reality, as Dan puts it, “I wanted a piece of the dinosaur action.”
Pictured above: Dan preparing a giant neck vertebrae of Dreadnoughtus, a super-massive dinosaur from Patagonia excavated and studied by museum dinosaur hunter Matt Lamanna and colleagues.
