Exhibition and Documentary
Not everyone will make the journey to Montana to see Leonardo. That's why a special exhibition is being created to bring Leonardo to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Originally schedule to open to the public September 19, 2008, the exhibition has been postponed due to conditions created by Hurricane Ike. Please visit www.hmns.org for the new date.
The importance of Leonardo can’t be overstated. It is more than the stony record of a dinosaur long gone from the Earth. Leonardo is an icon – a relic of the past, consecrated by time, that will become a powerful symbol of prehistory and the evolutionary process. One mustn’t think of Leonardo as you might the dinosaur skeletons mounted in countless museums. Leonardo is as close to a living, breathing dinosaur as mankind will ever see in this and many more lifetimes. The way Leonardo is preserved makes him as much an object of art as scientific specimen. In this case, the artist was time itself.
Beginning September 26, 2008 the world will have the opportunity to see this most amazing object, a very unique confluence of natural processes that have created a spectacular window into the history of our planet. Dinosaur Mummy CSI at the Houston Museum of Natural Science is destined to become one of the most significant and important events in science, through bringing to the public a story of time, and the opportunity to be a part of the process of discovery.
http://www.hmns.org
On September 14, 2008 the world had its first in-depth glimse of Leonardo and the amazing array of technologies that have been applied to the research of the fossil. The Discovery Channel broadcast drew a record audience and has recieved critical acclaim.
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 World premiere of "Mummified" Dinosaur comes to Houston
Features "Leonardo;" one of the most perfectly preserved big dinosaurs ever found
HOUSTON-The Houston Museum of Natural Science, in association with the
Judith River Foundation, will develop and tour a world premiere
exhibition featuring Leonardo, the most perfectly fossilized
plant-eating dinosaur ever discovered-with almost all of his skin still
intact. Dinosaur Mummy CSI: Cretaceous Science Investigation opens Sept.
19, 2008.
"Leonardo's discovery was groundbreaking for the world of paleontology
because it provided extensive detail regarding what plant-eating
dinosaurs actually ate - details that could only be theorized before,"
said Joel A. Bartsch, president of the Houston Museum of Natural
Science. "We're thrilled to present Leonardo to the public for the first
time at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where they can get up
close and personal with the real Leonardo, the best preserved,
plant-eating dinosaur mummy fossil ever discovered."
Following its premiere in Houston, the exhibition will tour nationally,
with a replica of Leonardo; the real Leonardo will only be on display in
Houston. The tour schedule will be announced at a later date.
Who is Leonardo?
Leonardo is a 77 million-year-old adult duckbilled dinosaur, known
scientifically as Brachylophosaurus canadensis. His remains are 90
percent covered with fossilized skin, on which the pattern of his body
scales are evident. The term "mummy" is used in reference to Leonardo to
denote the fact that much of the dinosaur's soft tissue, such as its
skin and internal organs, appear to have been fossilized as well, along
with the bones.
What makes Leonardo even more extraordinary is that he has given
scientists a rare peek "inside" a dinosaur. With modern technology,
scientists have analyzed Leonardo using a forensic approach to studying
this fossil-and the site where it was found-to determine how he may have
lived and died. Using this method, the dinosaur is the "victim," and the
scientist has to figure out how it was killed, and by whom. Additional
discoveries, such as stomach contents, provide a more complete picture
of the ecosystem in which the dinosaur lived - as indicated by the type
of plants it ate.
Using this method, evidence of what dinosaurs looked like, what they
ate, their muscle mass, limb movement, and more, has been discovered
through collaboration between the NDT Group, Carestream Health's Kodak
Non-Destructive Testing team and ConAm of Houston's analysis of the
specimen. Before this extreme digital technology was applied to this
astonishing specimen, paleontologists could only guess at the true
structure and function of a dinosaur of this magnitude.
Along with this premiere exhibition, new research is being done to
further explore this amazing fossilized dinosaur. Prior to the fossil's
arrival at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, a special team
comprised of some of the top paleontology researchers in the world
conducted an intensive radiological scanning of Leonardo at NASA Johnson
Space Center's Ellington Field facility. The data is currently being
compiled and analyzed, and will be released at a later date.
"Meeting Leonardo is a very moving, intimate experience," said Dr.
Robert T. Bakker, famed paleontologist and curator of paleontology at
the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Dr. Bakker was one of the first
scientists to work on Leonardo, beginning in 2002. "Visitors will see
every wrinkle and scale popping in the light, and then discover the
internal organs of a creature that's been dead for millions of years.
They will leave convinced that these animals were very much alive."
Discovered by members of an exploration team in the summer of 2000
during the Judith River Foundation's Expedition on a cattle ranch north
of Malta, Montana, Leonardo was named after graffiti found on a nearby
rock that read: "Leonard Webb loves Geneva Jordan 1916."
The Exhibition
In addition to Leonardo, the exhibition will feature several other real
specimens including another duckbill named Peanut-a teenager that will
illustrate their species' body structure; an Ichthyosaur mummy, which
has contents of her intestines and four babies preserved inside her
body; and the only mummified Triceratops skin ever found, which will
also be on display for the first time.
Throughout the exhibition, explore the history of the discovery of some
of the world's most unique and amazing fossils. Learn more about the
fossil-hunting Sternberg family, who discovered the first examples of
large mummified dinosaurs over 100 years ago, plus more.
The world premiere of Dinosaur Mummy CSI: Cretaceous Science
Investigation is scheduled for Sept. 19, 2008 through Sept. 7, 2009 at
the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
For more information on Dinosaur Mummy CSI, and for a video peek at this
amazing fossil, visit;
http://www.hmns.org/generic/dinosaur_mummy_press_room.asp
Tickets for the special exhibition are now on sale;
$15 for adults; $12
for children (3 - 11), $10 for seniors (62+), and college students with
a valid ID; $8 Museum members; $5 school groups; and $9 for groups of 20
or more.
For tickets, or more information, visit www.hmns.org or call (713) 639-4629.
National funding for Dinosaur Mummy CSI: Cretaceous Science
Investigation is provided by Carestream Health, ConAm, Eastman Kodak,
Ford Motor Company, NDT Group, Randa Trucking and Sealed Air. Local
funding is provided by Spectra Energy and Weatherford International Ltd.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science-one of the nation's most-heavily
attended museums-is a centerpiece of the Houston Museum District. With
four floors of permanent exhibit halls, including the Wortham IMAX(r)
Theatre, Cockrell Butterfly Center, Burke Baker Planetarium and George
Observatory and as host to world-class and ever-changing touring
exhibitions, the Houston Museum has something to delight every age
group. With such diverse and extraordinary offerings, a trip to the
Houston Museum of Natural Science, located at One Hermann Circle Drive
in the heart of the Museum District, is always an adventure.
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