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Dinosaurs: ancient fossils, new discoveries
Natural History, June, 2005 by Joe Rao
Now through January 8, 2006
This groundbreaking exhibition presents the most up-to-date look at how scientists are reinterpreting many of the most persistent and puzzling mysteries of the dinosaurs: what they looked like, how they behaved, and how they moved, as well as the complex and hotly debated theories of why--or even whether--they became extinct.
T. REX WALKS IN PLACE
According to the latest research, Tyrannosaurus rex was not the speed demon depicted in Jurassic Park, and in fact, probably didn't run at all in pursuit of its prey--it walked. So how did this stalker walk? Just like the robotic six-foot-long scale model of a T. rex skeleton in the exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the American Museum of Natural History.
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Based on a fossil in the Museum's collection, the polyurethane model illustrates the walk cycle of these carnivorous beasts. Hall Train Studios in Toronto combined mechanical design with state-of-the-art animation expertise to create the model for the exhibition. A single motor powers a dense array of aluminum and plastic gears, cams, and levers that move vertical supporting rods up, down, and sideways in research-dictated paths. The overall effect is a marvel of paleontological art--the most scientifically accurate model ever built of a dinosaur walking.
The biggest hurdle was re-creating the movement of the animal's feet. A total of 50 mechanical parts were required in each of the animal's littlest toes to make them flex in the subtle, curling pattern scientists have described. From there, the mechanics of the knees (just six gears needed to produce the roll/glide needed here), pelvis, head, and tail movements fell into place more easily.
"Making this model was the most challenging project of my life because it required coaxing machine parts into conveying movements that are organic and fluid," said Hall Train, a designer and animator who specializes in natural history projects. Train's work certainly paid off: the result of his toiling culminates in a surprisingly lifelike simulation of a T. rex on the move.
ART AND SCIENCE BRING MESOZOIC FOREST TO LIFE
A 700-square-foot diorama of an ancient forest, the biggest and most detailed recreation of a prehistoric environment ever constructed, is the centerpiece of the new exhibition, Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries, at the American Museum of Natural History.
There are no glass walls in this evocative diorama, so visitors feel as though they are immersed in a prehistoric "lost world" never before viewed by humans. They will come face to face with more than 100 full-size models depicting the wide range of amazing creatures that lived there.
As it turns out, the prehistoric forests of what is now Liaoning Province in northeastern China looked a great deal like modern-day New Jersey. Most of the plants and trees growing in China 130 million years ago are very similar to modern pines, ferns, and cedars that grow abundantly today in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, according to paleobotanist Kirk R. Johnson of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. In fact, much of the initial sketching and research took place in the real-life environment of the Pine Barrens.
Not just an artistic flight of fancy, the creatures and backgrounds in the Liaoning Forest diorama are the result of an extraordinary collaboration of art and science, partnering sculptors and painters in the Museum's Department of Exhibition with renowned paleontologists. A team of artists spent weeks painting the 68-foot-long background mural, while Museum sculptors immersed themselves in the latest scientific reports on the Liaoning fossil finds before meticulously sculpting the life-size, fleshed-out models of creatures that populate the forest. This collaboration has led to an astounding feat: an intricately designed, scientifically accurate re-creation of a prehistoric world.
Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries and its accompanying education and public programs are made possible by Bank of America.
This exhibition is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org), in collaboration with the Houston Museum of Natural Science; California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco; The Field Museum, Chicago; and North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh.
Major funding has also been provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund.
RELATED ARTICLE: People at the AMNH.
Dennis Finnin Director, Photography Studio
Denis Finnin first stepped foot inside the unfamiliar walls of the Museum for a job interview. Now, 16 years later, he knows every nook and cranny.
"The role of the Photo Studio is multifaceted," Denis explains. "We work with most departments in the Museum, photographing pieces for scientific departments, Museum events, and behind-the-scenes activities. Our images are used for presentations, marketing, and in exhibitions." Denis has played an integral role in documenting the construction and rehabilitation of many of the Museum's halls and additions, including the renovation of the fossil halls ten years ago, and more recently, the Rose Center. His work has also sent him on trips across the globe. He recalls the two weeks he spent in Indonesia, where he documented the collection of sulfur specimens from the crater of a volcano for the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, as a highlight of his career here at the Museum.
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