THERIZINOSAUR – Mystery of the
Sickle-Claw Dinosaur
September 16, 2007
–
March 2009
Lost Dinosaur Surfaces from Ancient Sea
A once-in-a-lifetime find in
2000 by Museum of Northern Arizona paleontologists led to the
discovery of the most complete therizinosaur skeleton ever found. See
the newest and strangest dinosaur in all of North America at MNA’s
stunning new major exhibit THERIZINOSAUR—Mystery of the Sickle-Claw
Dinosaur, opening Sunday, September 16, 2007 and running through
March 29, 2009.
On display are real
93-million-year-old bones excavated near Big Water, in the desert
landscape of southern Utah. A freestanding skeleton, cast from the
original bones of the 13-foot-tall, one-ton, sickle-clawed, and
feathered dinosaur, is the first mounted interpretation of this
long-lost animal’s stance and posture.
All dinosaurs lived on land, but this
one was found in a location that was the bottom of the Cretaceous
Western Interior Seaway, an ancient sea that covered the middle of
North America. The initial discovery, a single toe bone, led to the
recovery of the nearly complete skeleton. But how did the whole animal
get buried in a seafloor, 60 miles from shore?
The dinosaur’s identity was a mystery
well into the excavation. “We weren’t thinking ‘therizinosaur’ at
first, because at that time they were known only from Asia,” said Dr.
David D. Gillette, exhibit curator and MNA’s Colbert Chair of
Vertebrate Paleontology. “From that first toe bone, we thought maybe
we had a big ‘raptor’ (an agile, hunting dinosaur). But when we found
peculiar bones of the massive hips, we knew we had a sickle-claw
dinosaur. They were like nothing we’d ever seen.”
Most dinosaurs in this mysterious
family are known only from partial skeletons. And the lifestyle of
these lumbering, pot-bellied, sickle-clawed forms has been debated for
decades; MNA’s skeleton fills in some major gaps in what is known
about therizinosaur anatomy and habits.
“In the past two decades, new studies
have regrouped therizinosaurs with carnivorous (meat-eating)
dinosaurs,” noted Gillette, “but there are many questions. Was this
animal truly carnivorous as indicated by its shared ancestry with
forms like Tyrannosaurus rex? How did it use its three slashing
sickles on each hand? Did this small-headed predator actually prey on
plants?”
Museum Director Dr. Robert Breunig
commented, “MNA is incredibly excited and proud to present this major
new exhibition featuring a significant paleontological discovery by
the Museum’s scientists. This unique dinosaur and the information that
comes from it adds greatly to our knowledge and understandings of life
in the distant past. The exhibit highlights and celebrates the
importance of basic research and the knowledge and insights that flow
from that research.”
He continued, “Visitors will learn
about the life and death of an amazing animal from the Cretaceous
Period in the Age of Dinosaurs. We have a dinosaur new to science,
related to birds, but thoroughly different from most animals known.
Trying to envision how it lived and died takes us back in time and
deep into the story of how the earth and life upon it evolved."
The subject comes to life through
scientific illustrations throughout MNA’s exhibit. Artist and Guest
Curator Victor Leshyk’s remarkable ability to portray complicated
anatomical details, prehistoric animals, and landscapes from another
time gives visitors of all ages easy access to the science, as well as
the dramatic life and death struggles of this ancient creature.
Giant predatory reptiles called
plesiosaurs terrorized the Cretaceous seas. MNA has excavated
plesiosaur skeletons from the same seabeds. These ambush predators had
torpedo-shaped bodies streamlined for speed and power, with paddles
for limbs and strong, piercing teeth. The exhibit explores the
swimming habits of these ancient marine predators through a robotic
sculpture created by artists Brian and Eric Gold.
Scientific Illustration – Where Science Meets
Art
In the Museum of Northern
Arizona’s new exhibit THERIZINOSAUR—Mystery of the Sickle-Claw
Dinosaur, artist Victor Leshyk creates works that grow from the
point where science meets art. Illustrations are essential to the
scientific process; by concentrating complex knowledge into nuggets
that can be handed off to other thinkers, scientific illustration
presents new research and findings to the world.
Scientific illustration has a long
history, dating back to careful drawings and engravings made before
cameras were available. Hi-tech instruments like space telescopes and
MRI’s have arrived, yet scientists still need exploded views,
idealized views, or restored views of lost or damaged subjects that
are not available at the push of a button. Whether to meticulously
record a subject as seen, or to present results, interpretations, and
ideas, illustrations are used to present forensic evidence to jurors
in a courtroom, medical knowledge to patients, and academic subjects
to students of medicine and other technical fields. And in MNA’s case,
illustration is essential to reconstruct an extinct animal that the
world has never seen.
An illustrator who can achieve this
level of interpretation must be close to the science it is based on.
For his hand-drawn works, Leshyk brings a background in anatomy,
physical science, and natural history to the task from both formal and
private study. This MNA project has required drawings by hand,
paintings on computers, models in clay and wire, and much outside
research. In particular, the illustrator has enjoyed working with the
richness of the lost therizinosaur’s tale.
“I always love to get deeply immersed
in my subject,” said Leshyk, “and working with the paleontologist who
unearthed our bones is about as close as one can get. And especially
because of the early stage of the science behind this find, the
exhibit gives a great opportunity to illustrate a wide range of ideas
about this mysterious animal for the visitors to evaluate in their own
minds.”
Sponsors
Thank you to these generous
sponsors for making THERIZINOSAUR—Mystery of the Sickle-Claw
Dinosaur possible.
- BlueCross BlueShield
of Arizona
- Arizona Public
Service Company
- KNAU - Arizona
Public Radio
- National Endowment
for the Arts
- Arizona Commission
on the Arts
- Flagstaff Cultural
Partners
- Direct Impressions
Business Service
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