Houston’s Museum of Natural Science has produced a very significant permanent exhibit, the Hall of Paleontology. Within this hall stands a near perfect mummified triceratops named Lane. The dinosaur was found within the United States at a ranch in Wyoming. This find has already started to change what the world thought of this dinosaur.
The near complete dinosaur was found at Paleo Park, Wyoming a ranch passed down through a local family there. Many paleontologists flocked to the area back during the dinosaur craze because it sits on a “graveyard” of many dinosaurs. The park now has a lodge where visitors can view the different finds. The first find was a triceratops that would be named after a granddaughter, Kelsey, and she would make her way to a Children’s Museum in Indianapolis.
The next find was even more exciting than a very complete dinosaur; this one had a lot of skin. Naming this one after a grandson, Lane would share a new perspective of what a real triceratops looked like. The amount of skin and how preserved Lane was is still a great discovery and provides more work for researchers. Safely tucked inside of this museum like the other prehistoric beasts anyone is welcome to come and see the amazing displays they’ve created.
A volunteer veteran at the science museum provided much background on the dinosaur, and some facts about the others. He first grabbed everyone’s attention by informing how real Lane was, “The dinosaurs here are mounted in a particular way that if the metal rods wrap around the bone holding it up it is a real dinosaur bone. Molds of the real dinosaurs have the rods shooting through.” He also said an advisor of Jurassic Park (Robert T. Baker) is the curator.
He went on to explain Lane’s uniqueness and discovery. “Lane’s skin was not only an important find, but because most of the bone is there paleontologists were able to figure out that their idea of its size and shape was wrong. The body was more of a shorter barrel, and even the tail was different.” Going back to the ranch in Wyoming he talked about their history from going to cattle to a dinosaur ranch was “more profitable”, and how the owner found Lane on a bank “a tall spike was poking up out of the ground.” Lastly he mentioned about Lane having a sister named Kelsey in Indianapolis, and that this hall was one of a kind in the world and not going anywhere.
http://www.hmns.org/exhibits/permanent-exhibitions/the-morian-hall-of-paleontology/
https://www.facebook.com/Paleo-Park-155606334514468/
Link Location: “the amazing displays”
https://www.childrensmuseum.org/
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