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In
1909, Earl Douglass of Carnegie Museum of Natural History excavates a
line of beautifully preserved backbones. The bones belong to a new species
of dinosaur, which is named by then-Director William J. Holland. A year
later an unknown skull is found near the dinosaur's location, but is
not connected to it. Is it Apatosaurus or not? The dig team ships
it to the museum just in case.
 In
1915 the dinosaur is mounted in Dinosaur Hall. Because of a hot debate
over the identity of the skull, the body is left headless and remains
so for twenty years. Under pressure from outside paleontologists, another
unidentified skull – which turns out to be that of Camarasaurus – is
mounted onto the body of Apatosaurus in 1936. It will be another
43 years before Carnegie paleontologists John McIntosh and Dave Berman
correctly identify the skull found in Carnegie Quarry back in 1910.
This skull, finally restored to its rightful owner in 1979, is still
the only known skull from an Apatosaurus. And now, the bones
will be conserved and remounted in a more accurate and dynamic position
in the renovated Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibit.
For a real-time
view of the crew at work, visit the Web
Cams page and refresh your browser every 30 seconds. |
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Get
the inside scoop!
The
disarticulation of Apatosaurus is just another step in this
dinosaur's long and fascinating history at Carnegie Museum. Walk
through the Apatosaurus Slide Show with former PaleoLab preparator
Yvonne Wilson as she explains each step of the process!
Click
here to go to the Slide Show
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Last
day! June 14, 2005: The original mounting
platform from 1915 is all that remains to be dismantled.
Larry can be seen disappearing through an opening he uses
to work under the platform (any loose change he finds is
probably from his own pocket). Once it's moved the team will
resume work on Diplodocus, positioning it in Apatosaurus' old
location where the crane will be most effective. So, that's
it for Apatosaurus until it comes back to be remounted
in a year or two!
Click
to view clip. (2.6 Mb .avi file,
32 seconds)
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June
13, 2005: Some last-minute preparation and the support cage is
ready. This remaining part of the Apatosaurus weighs about
2,225 lbs, and the steel framework supporting it weighs over 1000
lbs. Despite all this weight, the powerful crane took mere seconds
to swing the cage off of the platform – too fast for the
web cam to catch it!
Click
to view clip. (4.4 Mb .avi file, 32 seconds)
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June
7-10, 2005: Larry and Brian prepare the sacrum, the last bone in
the pelvic girdle, for shipping. First they weld new steel supports
to its original framework and then custom-fit it into a steel shipping
cage. When all the preparation is complete, the team uses the crane
to lift the cage and then cut the remaining supports connecting
it to the base.
Cam
2 – Click to view clip. (3.1
Mb .avi file, 23 seconds)
Cam
4 – Click to view clip. (3.8
Mb .avi file, 28 seconds)
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June
6-7, 2005: Larry and Brian prepare to remove the pubis, a bone
in the pelvic girdle, by wrapping it up and building a crate around
it for support. With help from Paul and Bob they remove the bone
on the following morning.
Click
to view clip. (3.2 Mb .avi file, 23 seconds)
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June
1-2, 2005: The working platform under the sacrum is extended. Yvonne
and Norm separate the ilium and pubis, and on June 2 the ischium
is removed. (The sacrum, ilium, pubis, and ischium are the bones
that make up the pelvic girdle.)
June
1 – Click to view clip. (2.6 Mb
.avi file, 18 seconds)
June
2 – Click to view clip. (2.8
Mb .avi file, 20 seconds)
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May
31, 2005: The right femur, weighing over 600 pounds, is removed.
May
31 – Click to view clip. (3.2 Mb
.avi file, 23 seconds)
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May 26-27, 2005:
Four dorsal vertebrae and both the left and right tibia and fibula
(lower leg bones) are removed. The team prepares for another day
by filling bags with packing material, then remove the left femur
(upper leg bone). The left femur is a cast, but the right femur is
real. Carnegie Museum of Natural History has more real dinosaur bones
on display than any museum in the world!
May
26 – Click to view clip. (4.4
Mb .avi file, 32 seconds)
May
27 – Click to view clip. (1.7
Mb .avi file, 12 seconds) |
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May 24-25, 2005:
The lifting cradle is used to remove the vertebrae. These fossil
bones range from 175-250 lbs., and can't be safely moved by hand
alone.
Cam
3, May 24 – Click to view clip. (2.7
Mb .avi file, 19 seconds)
Cam
4, May 24 – Click to view clip. (2.6
Mb .avi file, 18 seconds)
Cam
3, May 25 – Click to view clip. (7.2
Mb .avi file, 52 seconds) |
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May 23, 2005:
Fraley's team finishes building the large work platform that will
make it easier and safer to move around while removing the heaviest
fossil bones. They also start building the "lifting cradle," which
will support the dorsal (back) vertebrae as they are lifted and placed
in their shipping crates.
Cam
3 – Click to view clip. (1.8
Mb .avi file, 13 seconds)
Cam
4, new camera angle! – Click to view clip. (2.5
Mb .avi file, 18 seconds) |
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May 18-20, 2005:
The remaining scapula is removed, as well as both front legs (humerus
and radius bones). Once these bones have been removed, the temporary
support structure is no longer needed. Fraley's team dismantles the
steel supports and begins building a platform for removing the huge
backbones.
May
18 – Click to view clip. (3.56
Mb .avi file, 26 seconds)
May
19-20 – Click to view clip. (2.3
Mb .avi file, 17 seconds) |
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May
17, 2005: Using the crane for the first time, the 600-pound scapula
(shoulder blade) is removed. The welding flashes you see were Fraley's
team reinforcing the supporting framework so it wouldn't tip when
the fossil bone was removed.
Click
to view clip. (3.86 Mb .avi file, 29
seconds)
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May
12-13, 2005: The feet and ribs of Apatosaurus are
removed.
May
12 – Click to view clip. (1.6 Mb
.avi file, 12 seconds)
May
13 – Click to view clip. (2.5
Mb .avi file, 19 seconds)
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May 11, 2005:
Powerful jacks were used to move Apatosaurus across the floor
to line up with the crane. We used three 20-ton jacks to move 12,000
lbs of fossil and steel (Apatosaurus alone, without its neck
or tail, weighs about 9,225 pounds). Amazingly, the process took
only a few hours. Quite a sight!
Side
angle – Click to view clip. (3.26
Mb .avi file, 24 seconds)
Rear
angle – Click to view clip. (3.13
Mb .avi file, 23 seconds) |
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May 9-10, 2005:
Steel supports are welded to the base in preparation for moving Apatosaurus.
The large screen is a welding shield. The blue flashes come from
the welders, and the white flashes come from the steel cutters.
May
9 – Click to view clip. (2.55
Mb .avi file, 19 seconds)
May
10 – Click to view clip. (2.88
Mb .avi file, 21 seconds)
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April 20-22,
2005: A crane is erected to handle the weight of the heavier bones
in our largest dinosaurs, Diplodocus and Apatosaurus.
Click
to view clip. (2.9 Mb .avi file, 22 seconds)
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April 18-29,
2005: Apatosaurus loses its head...and tail.
Click
to view clip. (4.2 Mb .avi file, 31 seconds)
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Phil Fraley Productions,
Inc., of Hoboken, New Jersey, handled the disassembly, remounting,
and reinstallation of the dinosaurs. The enormous skeletons were taken
to Fraley's studios where they were given their new look. Once finished,
the dinosaurs were shipped back to Pittsburgh to be reinstalled in
the new hall.
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