Dinosaur museum reports significant progress

In its first four weeks of fundraising, the Big Horn Basin Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum has raised enough money to purchase a full body cast of Big Al 2, the world’s most complete allosaur.

This large meat-eating dinosaur, which was a distant ancestor to Tyrannosaurus rex, will form part of a Jurassic dinosaur display that supporters are creating in conjunction with a planned expansion of the Greybull Museum. 

Big Al 2 was discovered northeast of Greybull and excavated by Kirby Siber, a Swiss paleontologist, in the late 1990s. The original bones of Big Al 2 are currently on display in the Sauriermuseum in Aathal, Switzerland. 

In addition, the Big Horn Basin Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum is working in conjunction with the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution to recreate a clutch of Allosaurus eggs to be displayed in Greybull. 

The only fossilized Allosaurus nest ever discovered was found just east of Greybull and material from that discovery as well as recreated eggs are on display in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.  The Greybull display would be the first reconstructed Allosaurus nest to be displayed outside of the Smithsonian. 

The next goal for the Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum is to raise funds for a full body cast of Sarah/Sophia, one of the world’s most complete Stegosauruses discovered in the Red Canyon Dinosaur Quarry east of Greybull in the early 2000s by paleontologist Bob Simon. A Stegosaurus was a large plant-eating dinosaur that walked on four legs and had large boney plates on its back and large spikes on the end of its tail. The spikes are thought to have been a form of defense against predators like the Allosaurus. Several thousand dollars have already been raised toward that goal. 

The Big Horn Basin Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum also announced that it will no longer have a physical presence in downtown Greybull as their efforts will now be directed toward raising money to acquire additional full-body dinosaur casts. 

Representatives are working in cooperation with the Greybull Museum, which is pursuing grant money and donations to support their efforts to build a 3,000 square foot structure to house the collection of dinosaur casts and other fossils of local and national interest. 

The Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum in downtown Greybull has long been a downtown draw to both tourists and locals for many years. It was largely supported by the generosity and financial support of local donors and particularly Lori Harter, a local business person and long-time Greybull booster, who owns the building that housed the Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum. 

For more information, please contact the Big Horn Basin Dinosaur and Geoscience Museum at info@bighornbasindinos.org or visit the website at bighornbasindinos.org.  

Questions can also be directed to Erik Kvale at 812-340-3218 or Nolan O’Neal 713-826-8024.

 

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