for who you might ask? and why would i bother telling you about someone else's big day?
well partially because i am funding their whole effort, and their two very important beings to me (one dinosaur and the other human) i thought it'd be worth mentioning.
after talking to peter bond and eee-mailing lillian the albertosaur, i was getting kind of anxious about them getting to their goal of the american museum of natural history in new york city.
well as of this morning, i can stop worrying. peter gave me a call telling me they'd arrived safe and sound...
more to the point, they were in the perfect spot for lillian to trying and work her way back up to stardom.not that the american museum of natural history (AMNH from here on in... man that is a lot of typing in the long version!) is an easy place for a dinosaur to stand out in! the place has many many of them, and their some of the most spectacular specimens and exhibits in the world!
right away when you first step in the door you are greeted by the colossal mount of a barosaurus rearing into the air defending its young from a marauding allosaurus. _
lillian joked that she is glad that our kind (the tyrannosauids) didn't really have to hunt prey of this magnitude.
of course the prime attraction for dinosaur fans are the TWO dinosaur halls... which as impressive as they are, only make up a tiny part of the HUGE whole of the AMNH. as peter and lillian only gave me pics of the dino hall that's all your going to see here today. if you go to visit the AMNH expect to see a LOT more than just this though!
you'll not the lovely apatosaurus (or brontosaurus... i personally like brontosaurus more, but that's the bakker fanatic in my talking) skeleton mount behind lillian and peter. sadly this is the only good photo of it they sent me. apparently it is so big it's hard to photograph.
peter's plan was for lillian to have a similar role here in the AMNH's dinosaur halls to the one she used to have at the royal tyrrell. she'd be the vivus-dinosaur making the rounds so that people could see a living dinosaur. not a common thing at most museums.
the best part being that the AMNH doesn't currently have a resident dinosaur for lillian to have to compete with!
while lillian was breaking into this new role, a very pleased peter (than again when isn't he pleased come to think of it?) wandered the hall and took some pictures of the residents to show me.
so first off the dinosaur beside peter in the picture above is barnum brown's rather lovely styracosaurus found in 1915. darren tanke relocated this guy's quarry in 2006 and has found that brown left behind much of this skeletons skull (a lot of this particular skeleton's skull is reconstructed with plaster). so it may get a move over soonish with this new material.
a very cool specimen to see is this panel mounted centrosaurus. if you recall this was part of the case study of darren's i took you through to see how he finds lost and mystery quarrys. very cool to see it is still on display. found in 1914 by brown, if you don't recall that particular detail.
rounding off the albertan ceratopsians here is barnum's anchiceratops from 1912.
one of the most spectacular nodosaurid remains yet found, this edmontonia was found in 1915 by brown, but did not receive its current name till much later.
also on display are barunum's first ankylosaurus from montana, and his much nicer alberta one.
one of the most important historic skeletons on display is that of saurolophus. this is THE first complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in canada by brown in 1911.
they also have a some lovely lambeosaurus skulls.
they also have the first complete corythosaurus found, that also had a large portion of it covered in skin impressions (just out of view of the camera in this picture sadly!). it was found by brown in 1912.
also on display was this enigmatic duckbill here. initially it was thought to be a small species of hadrosaur that they called procheneosaurus, we now know this was a juvenile lambeosaurus (though a couple scientists are pushing corythosaur... but most think lambeo).
wrapping up the first dinosaur hall tour (the ornithischia hall) peter included photos of two of the more impressive NON albertan dinosaurs on display. though funny enough both have been found in alberta, these ones are from the states.
of course the prime attraction for dinosaur fans are the TWO dinosaur halls... which as impressive as they are, only make up a tiny part of the HUGE whole of the AMNH. as peter and lillian only gave me pics of the dino hall that's all your going to see here today. if you go to visit the AMNH expect to see a LOT more than just this though!you'll not the lovely apatosaurus (or brontosaurus... i personally like brontosaurus more, but that's the bakker fanatic in my talking) skeleton mount behind lillian and peter. sadly this is the only good photo of it they sent me. apparently it is so big it's hard to photograph.
peter's plan was for lillian to have a similar role here in the AMNH's dinosaur halls to the one she used to have at the royal tyrrell. she'd be the vivus-dinosaur making the rounds so that people could see a living dinosaur. not a common thing at most museums.the best part being that the AMNH doesn't currently have a resident dinosaur for lillian to have to compete with!
while lillian was breaking into this new role, a very pleased peter (than again when isn't he pleased come to think of it?) wandered the hall and took some pictures of the residents to show me.man oh man, it is like my dinosaurs of alberta post on display! sooooo cool.
a big part of why alberta's dinosaurs are so iconic and famous is their being on display in this musuem for almost a hundred years (some have been here 98 years!!! since they were first found in the great canadian dinosaur rush...).
so first off the dinosaur beside peter in the picture above is barnum brown's rather lovely styracosaurus found in 1915. darren tanke relocated this guy's quarry in 2006 and has found that brown left behind much of this skeletons skull (a lot of this particular skeleton's skull is reconstructed with plaster). so it may get a move over soonish with this new material. a very cool specimen to see is this panel mounted centrosaurus. if you recall this was part of the case study of darren's i took you through to see how he finds lost and mystery quarrys. very cool to see it is still on display. found in 1914 by brown, if you don't recall that particular detail. rounding off the albertan ceratopsians here is barnum's anchiceratops from 1912.
one of the most spectacular nodosaurid remains yet found, this edmontonia was found in 1915 by brown, but did not receive its current name till much later.
also on display are barunum's first ankylosaurus from montana, and his much nicer alberta one. one of the most important historic skeletons on display is that of saurolophus. this is THE first complete dinosaur skeleton ever found in canada by brown in 1911. they also have the first complete corythosaurus found, that also had a large portion of it covered in skin impressions (just out of view of the camera in this picture sadly!). it was found by brown in 1912._
this includes the classic triceratops. peter should be smiling. that is the exact skelatal mount that appeared in all my favourite dinosaur books as a hatchling!
they also have this pair of nice anatotitans, though there is a chance these are just a pair of slightly bigger skulled edmontosaurus.
in the theropod hall is barnum brown's 1914 response to his boss henry osborn requesting brown to try and find more small theropods for the AMNH. man did brown deliver. only a fossil hunter of his legendary calibur could go out and meet a specific request like this. most of us just stumble into things. not say i'm going to find an X today, and go find it!
here is a medium sized gorgosaurus found by levi and charles sr. sternberg in 1917. they tried to sell it to the british, but when they didn't want this specimen, the AMNH purchased it. originally thinking it was a new species it was named after the sternbergs, which i thought was rather sporting of brown. as the sternbergs were his main competitors during the dinosaur rush.
they also have this pair of nice anatotitans, though there is a chance these are just a pair of slightly bigger skulled edmontosaurus. in the theropod hall is barnum brown's 1914 response to his boss henry osborn requesting brown to try and find more small theropods for the AMNH. man did brown deliver. only a fossil hunter of his legendary calibur could go out and meet a specific request like this. most of us just stumble into things. not say i'm going to find an X today, and go find it!_
brown was the man!
here is a medium sized gorgosaurus found by levi and charles sr. sternberg in 1917. they tried to sell it to the british, but when they didn't want this specimen, the AMNH purchased it. originally thinking it was a new species it was named after the sternbergs, which i thought was rather sporting of brown. as the sternbergs were his main competitors during the dinosaur rush.we now today recognize this as simple a juvenile gorgosaurus.
there is also this rather impressive mount of an adult gorgosaurus.
finishing off peter's photo tour of the AMNH's saurischian gallery was him posing with barnum brown's famous tyrannosaurus rex. the first ever found, in montana if your wondering where.
there is also this rather impressive mount of an adult gorgosaurus. finishing off peter's photo tour of the AMNH's saurischian gallery was him posing with barnum brown's famous tyrannosaurus rex. the first ever found, in montana if your wondering where.i was thankful to peter for taking me on this tour. keeping it mind this is only the alberta highlights (with a few extra american dinos peter thought were cool). the AMNH has tons more dinosaurs in this hall, and of course again a TON more all in one building. if your in the area it is a must goto.
_
sadly i won't be around there anytime soon. so i'm just going to have to enjoy peter's photos, and hope that lillian invites me to visit her someday.
_
speaking of lillian, peter sent this as a concluding photo. lillian interacting with a visitor to the museum. bond assures me that lillian has been a hit in her first day, and that he is going to try to negotiate with the AMNH to keep her on full time.
i can only hope he is successful. so i wait with some anticipation to hear good news from new york.
hopefully this plan of mine will see lillian made real happy, and i will finally make an impression in her heart...
Well...what do you think? Are you impressed by my country's museum?
ReplyDeleteWow, I always thought they kept the ORIGINAL Rex specimen in the original pose, but I see they repositioned it to fit the recent research. Smart move, however, i couldn't tell 'till you told me, Traum.
I hope Lillian does find happiness here in America. I have a feeling she'll love it here.
Very Cool, Traum, buddy. I've always go to visit the AMNH. I kinda wish I put that in my Boneyard post...oh well....
Anywho, until you can visit it, personally, you can always visit the official site through the link located on the right side of my blog under "Cool Sites that can enrich your mind."
Holy spikes!
ReplyDeleteI love this museum! *sigh!
old skool gorgosaurus?? isn't it too upright?
Pete looks really happy, well, I may be that way too!
Perhaps next time he can remove Rexie's .... whateverboneitwas and play with it the way he can play with a puppy.
the palaeofactdino was there too!
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ReplyDeleteraptor- it is a very nice museum. though it's dinosaur hall would be kinda sparse without MY country's dinosaurs :P
ReplyDeletethey did a major renovation 5ish years ago, and the t-rex was first on the list to get changed.
i don't really care where lillian is happy, just so long as she is happy. i've found its not the country that makes you happy, but what your situation is.
dinorider- it is a sweet as museum indeed!
as for the old skool gorgosaurus (and all the old skool mounts) i LOVE it.
i think the sense of history you get from that mount. that's how barnum brown had them installed 90+ years ago. that direct connection to the past is part of what gives this museum its majesty. the mix of old and new skool is brilliant in such a long running and important institution.
it is very cool how many of the first alberta dinosaurs from the palaeo-fact showed up here isn't it!
raptor- this is important you read this next bit very careful, because you have hurt my feelings with your second comment.
do not ever again on MY blog accuse my friends of "rambling". especially given that my good friend dinorider does not speak english as his first language. the fact he has taken time out of his busy life to write a reply in a language we can both understand is very generous, and i feel honoured he would do so. it is most certainly not a case of him randomly going on and on (which is what your choice of words "rambling" means in the dictionary).
if you have trouble understanding anyone in the comments, you will please ask them politely to restate what they have said. i will NOT tolerate rude and condecending language such "rambling" on this blog!
the word rambling implies nothing nice, and to me is confrontational(i'm hoping you meant it sarcastically, but sarcasim does not usually translate well over the innerweb).
thank you very much.
if you were to look closer at dinoriders sentence you will notice he has simply missed the "s" from the end of "palaeofactdino". he was referring to how all the alberta dinosaurs from my last fact are in this museum.
I'm sorry, Traum. it came out the worng way. I wasn't acusing him of rambling. I was just curious as to what he was talking about. No harm intended. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings and possibly Dinorider's. I don't try to do that. I don't want to make up excuses but, it's part of my Developmental Disorder: Asperger's Syndrome. And part of it is that I don't automatically know how to interact with other people. It's something I spent years learning, htoguh I'm not perfect. Can you cut me some slack, buddy? Please? I don't want you to start hating me. To be fair, I perfectly fair, I'm learning his language. I'm taking Spanish right now in High School.
ReplyDeleteAre you mad at me Traum? Hopefully, you should know by now that I would NEVER say something mean like that intentionally. To answer your question: Yeah, I was a little sarcastic and used it out of it's actual context. So, I didn't mean it, the way it sounded. Tell, Dinorider, if he caught that remark (y'know my 2nd comment?) that I'm sorry.
ReplyDeleteWe're still friends, right? I'm NOT mean. Please forgive me.
applogy accepted raptor!
ReplyDeletei wasn't mad. again just hurt.
wording is a very important thing on the web. it is important especially when talking about people on a blog that you say thing in friendly and polite language.
though make sure you don't use the asperger's too much as a shield. i know it makes things tough, but it makes it all the more impressive when you beat it.
the easiest way to do that interacting with people on the web is either to reread a comment before posting it. if you need to time to calm down write it in word, leave it for bit and come back to check it. that way you'll be the king of commenting!
i know how it is having a problem. my brain's size often gets me into lots of trouble, and though i KNOW it was the problem, i just face up to the situation and leave my brain out of it. there is nothing i can do to change that after all. i can only change how i deal with people ;)
Traum, you don't know how many times I've heard that...lol. DOn't worry it won't happen again. In fact, unlike kids with my condition, I interact with people better than you's think. Thanks for the advice. And, as for the brain-thing, I know what you mean. I've read some of those posts. Sometimes, it's good to laugh at our problems. I guess I get a little excited and a little arrogant like my first one. It's just that, well, I'm an American. It kind of makes me feel bad, when you brag about Canada's rich Dinosaur "treasure" trove.
ReplyDeleteWell, I didn't read RL's second comment and I didn't imagine I'd be the center of a discussion. I may want to excuse myself, I tend to write fastly what arrives to my mind... missing consonants and so on ... and don't take care so much about what I write. That isn't correct, especially when someone uses a foreign language.
ReplyDeletePerhaps for somebody learning spanish my blog would be one of the last places for planning a visit as I tend to blend languages, create words, and stuff like that. For me writing is like painting and I know some people disagree on such a topic. On the other hand I know my english is rusty!
If I come here and leave comments that is just because I feel confortable ... I get the same feeling I sense when my read the posts written by my spanish speaking friends.
BTW I think one of the first things I told you was that I'd be pleased if you could correct my writing mistakes. So ... let's move on buddy! It's Ok Raptor, I'll be more careful and... next time let me now.