Reimagining Dinosaurs, 2020
Palaeontological science has constantly evolved through excavations, discoveries and the technological tools at its disposal.
From the giant lizard statues still visible in the alleys of Crystal Palace Park, London, to contemporary representations closer to birds; from the Tyrannosaurus of “Jurassik Park” to recent discoveries finally covering it with a feathery down, our perception of these extinct animals is constantly being challenged by scientists who continue to excavate the ground and the past.
Morocco
In the Moroccan desert, after several hours of road (which soon turns into a track) the archaeological site of Zrigate is taking shape.
However, it is still necessary to walk for long hours in the stifling heat of a landscape which offers, as far as the eye can see, only piles of stones and sand to finally reach a sort of terrace where men tirelessly dig the rock to finally extract what is today presented as an exceptional paleontological discovery: the skeleton of the tail of Spinosaurus.
The world’s only complete specimen of this 100-million-year-old dinosaur was kept at the Paläontologische Staatssammlung in Munich until it was completely destroyed in a World War II bombing raid.
The specimen discovered in Morocco now makes it possible to affirm that this great Cretaceous predator knew how to swim.
Samir Zouhri, paleontologist at Université Hassan II in Casablanca, examines a large spinosaurus tooth in a village. Palaeontologists in the region are building relationships with the inhabitants to ensure that scientifically important fossils make their way to the public trust.
Italy
The model makers of Di. Ma (Dino Makers) use data from the most recent excavations to update the full-scale representations they create in their laboratory in Fossalta di Piave.
United-States
Today, researchers of American universities are using the technologies at their disposal to learn more about dinosaurs.
Lawrence M. Witmer, Professor of Anatomy at Heritage College of Ohio University of Osteopathic Medicine uses the scanner at Ohio Health O’Bleness Hospital to study the internal anatomical structure of a Siamese crocodile. The data collected will help him to better understand the functioning of its distant ancestors.
Professor Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, Assistant Professor of Geology and Geophysics at Yale University, is interested in the links between dinosaurs and birds.
United-Kingdom
The sculptures on this island in Crystal Palace Park include the only representations of real dinosaurs seen at Crystal Palace.
They are the very first dinosaur sculptures in the world: created by the sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins under the direction of the paleontologist Richard Owen, they were commissioned in 1852 to accompany the relocation of the Crystal Palace after the World’s Fair of 1851, and inaugurated in 1854.
Scientists classified Hylaeosaurus, Iguanodon and Megalosaurus, while the other animals on this site belonged to other scientific groups.
Dr Susannah Maidment, researcher on vertebrates and palaeobiological anthropology at the Natural History Museum, is working on the relationship between the bird and the stegosaurus. She is particularly interested in the locomotion of dinosaurs and the bias of fossils.
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