After 90 million years, Pteranodon once again soar in the skies of the Colorado Plateau. On Tuesday, July 10 at 10 a.m., the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff installed a 14-foot wingspan steel Pteranodon (literally “wing-toothless,” or more freely, “winged reptile without teeth”) sculpture, accompanied by a flock of five Ichthyornis (“fish- bird”), twenty feet in the air at the entrance to the Museum on Highway 180. The steel sculptures were created by paleo-artists Brian and Eric Gold to announce MNA’s exhibit Therizinosaur— Mystery of the Sickle Claw Dinosaur, opening September 16, 2007 through March 29, 2009. Although not found directly with the therizinosaur discovery in southern Utah that is the center of the upcoming exhibit, pteranodons and birds occupied the skies above the western shorelines of the same shallow sea.

MNA’s Colbert Curator of Paleontology Dr. David D. Gillette says, “Pteranodon and Ichthyornis could have been the last animals to see the Museum of Northern Arizona’s therizinosaur alive. Pteranodon (a pterosaur or “winged reptile”) ruled the skies over the Western Interior Seaway that existed in much of the Colorado Plateau, during the Cretaceous Period from 90 to 65 million years ago when dinosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs, and Cretaceous birds became extinct.” The maximum wingspan on the largest Pteranodon was 25 feet. Its head was large, with a prominent rear projection that likely served as a rudder in flight. Its wing membrane was covered with fur. Its beak was without teeth, like modern birds, and it sought fish and scavenged carrion along the shorelines of the shallow sea.

Ichthyornis, a Cretaceous bird, was covered with feathers, and resembled modern gulls and terns. Long thought to be one of only a few true birds from the Age of Dinosaurs, recent discoveries throughout the world indicate that birds were common. Their rarity as fossils is a consequence of their thin, fragile bones, which do not fossilize easily. MNA’s flock of Ichthyornis demonstrates one major anatomical feature that distinguishes them from all modern birds (hint: look for details in the open mouth of one of these sculptures). Dr. Gillette adds, “Modern birdwatchers can now put Ichthyornis on their Cretaceous life list. Bring binoculars!”

Brothers Brian and Eric Gold have spent their lifetimes studying, teaching, and creating fine art. Brian received his formal art training at The Art Institute of Boston and teaches art full time in England. In addition to watercolor and oil paintings, pen and ink drawings, and digital graphic art, he produces sculptures. Eric lives in Flagstaff and largely self-taught, has been a full time engraver since 1975. His artistic ventures include pencil and pen and ink drawings, robotics, and miniature, anatomically correct animal skull sculptures. Their latest interest in paleo-art was a natural development of their lifelong interest in dinosaurs.

Brian Gold comments, “We are expressing in steel something from the distant past which has found new life in our time. We worked with Dr. Gillette to make sure we were representing current scientific thinking, but we weren’t trying to hide the metal. The steel and technique were as important to us as its ancient aspect.”

Eric Gold adds, “The scale of the Pteranodon is impressive—much larger than a condor. Also interesting is the alien architecture of an animal that was filling a niche in the Cretaceous environment. They were very efficient, and endured and thrived much longer than humans have.” Both noted that having the two species occupying the same sculptural air space added a lot of visual interest and life to the piece.

An exhibit of the newest and strangest dinosaur in all of North America is coming in 2007. Therizinosaur—Mystery of the Sickle Claw Dinosaur has evolved from a 2000 and 2001 southern Utah excavation by Dr. Gillette. Prior to this find, therizinosaurs were found only in Asia, with partial skeletons. The discovery initially stumped MNA’s paleontologists; the bones were not like any they had seen before. It led to five years of laboratory work to remove rock from the bones and repair thousands of natural breaks.

“This discovery is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Gillette. “Its identity was a mystery well into the excavation. Now we know it’s a therizinosaur, but we have questions. Was therizinosaur truly carnivorous as indicated by its ancestry as a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex? How did it use its three slashing sickles on each hand? Did this predator prey on plants? Found 60 miles from the closest shoreline, did this therizinosaur live on land, or was it sometimes aquatic?”

MNA will present these questions and more in the upcoming exhibit. The exhibit will feature the original therizinosaur bones in a reconstruction of the excavation and a free-standing mounted skeleton that presents Gillette’s best interpretation of the stance and posture of this strange creature.