World News – AU – Triceratops are calling Melbourne home after 67 million years

Melbourne Museum is preparing to welcome a notable addition to its world-leading display of natural history – a 67-million-year-old Triceratops skeleton is believed to be one of the most complete and well-preserved dinosaur fossils ever discovered were.

The Minister for Creative Industries, Danny Pearson, announced today that it has acquired the 1-ton fossil that will be on display on Museum Victoria’s flagship campus in Carlton in 2021.

The gigantic skeleton from the Late Cretaceous Period was discovered in 2014 on private land in Montana, USA and is currently being mined from rock at a depth of 1. 5 meters. About 270 bones, nearly 90 percent of the skeleton, have been recovered and excavations are continuing.

With a full back and 99 percent complete skull, the fossil is one of the most significant dinosaur finds ever made.

With a size of six to seven meters from tip to tail and a height of more than two meters, the fossil is larger than a full-grown African elephant.

Not only will the fossil be a major attraction for Victoria, it will be a boon to scientific research and help crack the code of how one of the world’s most beloved dinosaurs lived.

The specimen was discovered by a fossil collector who discovered a pattern on a sandstone rock wall that looked like part of a dinosaur’s tail.

As part of the State Collection of Victoria Museums, the Triceratops are used along with other dinosaur fossils, including The Cape Patterson Claw, a theropod claw found in 1903 as the first dinosaur bone in Australia.

The three-horned plant horn fossil becomes part of a Museum Victoria collection of more than 17 million objects that explore our history, celebrate our identities and form the basis of world-leading scientific research.

« Museums Victoria offers incredible visitor experiences and world-class behind-the-scenes research – it is fitting that Melbourne Museum is now home to one of the most important dinosaur discoveries in history. ”

“This Triceratops fossil will be a must see for all ages and a major new attraction for Victoria. ”

“This is a major addition to the State Collection worldwide that is exciting not just for Victoria but for all of Australia. “

“We know our triceratops will delight and amaze audiences, and it will inspire us to ponder the remarkable wonder and fragility of life on earth. “

Triceratops, Dinosaurs, Melbourne Museum, Victoria