Dean Lomax (UK)
Dr Dean Lomax is now well known from his books, television appearances and especially for his work on marine reptiles. However, before all this, he wrote this article for Issue 21 of Deposits.
After returning from a long summer working in the USA at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center (Fig. 1), I organised a meeting at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery to discuss the possibility of putting together a small exhibition of fossils. On meeting the staff of the museum, I discovered that the museum already intended to put together a small exhibit using in-house geological and palaeontological material, in response to requests from local schools for a display on subjects such as evolution, rocks and minerals. This provided me with the opportunity to work with Peter Robinson (Museum Officer, Archaeology) to create an exhibit based on palaeontology, which initially was set to run for six months.
Fig. 1. A very young looking Dean, working on the sauropod bones he found in Wyoming.
I started work at the museum (Fig. 2) around late September, 2008 and quickly realised that the museum had a modest collection of approximately 2,000 fossils, which surprised me. The museum had not displayed its fossil collection for about 20 years and the collection had not had a curator since the 1980s. Indeed, the museum did not have a palaeontologist or geologist on the staff to help with this exhibit, which meant that I had to research the collection and identify specimens for the exhibition. Fortunately, I was able to get my work was verified and supported by several palaeontology experts from this country and abroad.
Fig. 2. Outside view of the museum.
My first task was to decide on the overall theme of the exhibition and how the fossils were going to be displayed. I opted to put them in chronological order, as this fitted with one of the themes – evolution. The exhibition began with the Pre-Cambrian (despite having no fossils from this period) and finished with the Pleistocene. The next decision was about choosing our target audience.
While aiming it at a general audience, we also wanted the exhibition to be suited to both children and specialists. This meant striking a balance between in depth information and easy to understand terminology, explaining complex words and providing plenty of images to show what the fossil may have looked like when alive (which we felt was essential for children trying to understand fragments of a fossilised creature or plant). We also had to decide what should be included (for example, interactives, text panels and so on) and how much, with the final task being finding space within the museum to create the exhibit.
Once we’d settled on the general content and themes, it was time to look at the palaeontology collection in detail, and begin to select and research potential specimens for display. I discovered that a considerable amount of the collection had little or no information with the specimens, although some was recorded on a collection card index and in the museum accession registers. For those specimens with very little information, I first wrote down as much as I could about each fossil and went on to research them by using books, the Internet and consulting specialists.
The process of studying the fossils became instrumental in selecting which ones should be displayed. I created a database of the fossils (including reserve specimens) and put them in chronological order (grouped into time periods). This helped me identify strengths and weaknesses in the collection and decide how each geological time period should be presented.
During the research and selection stages, I began to realise what a fantastic collection the museum had and the academic importance of some of the specimens. For example, the collection includes some highly impressive eurypterid specimens, Slimonia and Pterygotus (which are on display in the exhibition). However, the find that delighted me most was a specimen of an ichthyosaur – Ichthyosaurus sp (Fig. 3). I was initially told that it had been assumed to be a replica or cast, as it had become confused with an unrelated cast used for education purposes.
Fig. 3. The highlight of the museum – the Ichthyosaur skeleton.
However, curatorial staff were under no illusion that this information was false. Looking at the fossil, my instincts told me that this was too good to be a cast and was, in fact, the real thing. The even more intriguing thing about this ichthyosaur was the fossilised gastric contents scattered around the ribs and across the specimen. It was comprised of several very small, coleoid cephalopod hooklets, giving an insight into the animal’s last meal before death – specimens of this sort of thing are extremely rare for this species. It is now on display in the museum and will remain on display after the ‘Fabulous Fossils’ exhibition has ended.
Fig. 4. The author putting the new display together.
A problem arose once the final selection of specimens for display had been made. The museum’s collection was not broad enough to allow for a display covering all geological time periods. On discussion with Peter, I mentioned that my own collection could provide specimens that the museum did not have examples of, and thereby increase the diversity and quantity of specimens on display. Once I had selected items from my own collection for display, my fossils made up over half of the exhibition. While the museums collection is largely made up of fossils from the UK, my collection is from all over the world (ranging from Africa to Brazil), which allowed us to show some of the diversity and similarities of fossils, worldwide.
Approximately 150 fossils made the final selection for display. For each of the specimens, I had to create detailed labels, requiring me to ensure that the information for each label was factually correct. On each label, I included the object display number, time period, common name, scientific name (genus and species), a phonetic spelling of the name, where the fossil was found, a brief description and museum catalogue number.
Fig. 5. The finished display.
Many of the labels included images that show what the specimen may have looked like in life. The Doncaster Museum fossils were given extra, in-depth labels, which included extra information such as the correct stage of the particular time periods from which they came and a more detailed description of the fossils to facilitate future opportunities for research. The design of the labels was based on feedback from the museum’s education officer, Alan Hall, specifically to be accessible to children and non-specialists.
Creating the timeline was an exciting part of the project to work on. I looked at examples in other museums, including Sheffield’s Weston Park Museum and The Wyoming Dinosaur Center, and also at books and the Internet to help create my own version. I looked at the way they explained each period and epoch, and how they represented each individual section. When creating my own timeline, I tried to replicate the others I had seen by explaining such things as the flora and fauna at different geological times, how animals adapted to their environment, the climate at the time and how life progressed and changed, but in my own words. The timeline brought the fossil groups into context by giving the visitor a quick introduction to each geological time period and painting (quite literally, with the use of a graphic illustration) a picture of how the planet might then have looked.
The whole exhibition was pulled together by the creation of a set of 11 graphic text panels, dealing with themes such as fossil collecting (Fig. 6), fossilisation processes, and regional and local fossil geology. One of the panels was designed to explain the most common fossils found in and around Doncaster, which come from local coal mines and quarries. The same panel deals with the Jurassic, where I explain that fossils have not been found in the area from that period, but some, such as ammonites and trace fossils like dinosaur footprints, have been found, close by, on the Yorkshire coast.
Fig. 6. The fossil hunting essentials kit, kindly loaned to us by UKGE and Deposits.
There is also a panel looking at the links between private and museum collections, such as how many museums were originally formed from private collections. This topic is meant to be one of the key talking points of the Fabulous Fossils exhibition, because we hope it will encourage people (especially youngsters), who want to start a fossil collection or to understand fossils and palaeontology, to go about it in the right way. In this way, we hope they will record and look after their collections so that, one day, they might contribute to research or even donate their collections to a museum. Other panels include a very brief history of palaeontology and how the visitors to the museum can get actively involved in this subject.
The exhibition opened in April, 2009 at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery (Fig. 7), and was given pride of place in the museum’s foyer display cases. It is the first exhibit that greets visitors as they enter the museum and has been very popular with visitors so far, receiving overwhelmingly positive comments. Due to the sheer amount of interest in the exhibit, the length of time the exhibition will be on has now increased from six months to a potential one to three years.
Fig. 7. View of the exhibition, after being opened to the public.
Putting together this exhibition gave me a great opportunity to expand my knowledge and expertise in palaeontology, and to learn new skills relating to museum curatorial roles and exhibition work. I also had the opportunity to work with fossil specimens I would otherwise not easily have had a chance to see. Importantly, it gave me a great opportunity to show how passionate I am towards palaeontology, what I can achieve and that I have the dedication and skills to be able to create a professional exhibition. It was an honour to be given the responsibility of putting together an exhibition professionally and being in charge of such an interesting collection. I feel a great sense of achievement when I see the exhibit in all its glory, knowing that people are learning about palaeontology and sharing the experience that was, for me, a great pleasure to be involved with.
Dean Lomax’s website is at: www.palaeocritti.com.
Dr Dean Lomax is now well known from his books, television appearances and especially for his work on marine reptiles. However, before all this, he wrote this article for Issue 21 of Deposits.
After returning from a long summer working in the USA at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center (Fig. 1), I organised a meeting at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery to discuss the possibility of putting together a small exhibition of fossils. On meeting the staff of the museum, I discovered that the museum already intended to put together a small exhibit using in-house geological and palaeontological material, in response to requests from local schools for a display on subjects such as evolution, rocks and minerals. This provided me with the opportunity to work with Peter Robinson (Museum Officer, Archaeology) to create an exhibit based on palaeontology, which initially was set to run for six months.
Fig. 1. A very young looking Dean, working on the sauropod bones he found in Wyoming.
I started work at the museum (Fig. 2) around late September, 2008 and quickly realised that the museum had a modest collection of approximately 2,000 fossils, which surprised me. The museum had not displayed its fossil collection for about 20 years and the collection had not had a curator since the 1980s. Indeed, the museum did not have a palaeontologist or geologist on the staff to help with this exhibit, which meant that I had to research the collection and identify specimens for the exhibition. Fortunately, I was able to get my work was verified and supported by several palaeontology experts from this country and abroad.
Fig. 2. Outside view of the museum.
My first task was to decide on the overall theme of the exhibition and how the fossils were going to be displayed. I opted to put them in chronological order, as this fitted with one of the themes – evolution. The exhibition began with the Pre-Cambrian (despite having no fossils from this period) and finished with the Pleistocene. The next decision was about choosing our target audience.
While aiming it at a general audience, we also wanted the exhibition to be suited to both children and specialists. This meant striking a balance between in depth information and easy to understand terminology, explaining complex words and providing plenty of images to show what the fossil may have looked like when alive (which we felt was essential for children trying to understand fragments of a fossilised creature or plant). We also had to decide what should be included (for example, interactives, text panels and so on) and how much, with the final task being finding space within the museum to create the exhibit.
Once we’d settled on the general content and themes, it was time to look at the palaeontology collection in detail, and begin to select and research potential specimens for display. I discovered that a considerable amount of the collection had little or no information with the specimens, although some was recorded on a collection card index and in the museum accession registers. For those specimens with very little information, I first wrote down as much as I could about each fossil and went on to research them by using books, the Internet and consulting specialists.
The process of studying the fossils became instrumental in selecting which ones should be displayed. I created a database of the fossils (including reserve specimens) and put them in chronological order (grouped into time periods). This helped me identify strengths and weaknesses in the collection and decide how each geological time period should be presented.
During the research and selection stages, I began to realise what a fantastic collection the museum had and the academic importance of some of the specimens. For example, the collection includes some highly impressive eurypterid specimens, Slimonia and Pterygotus (which are on display in the exhibition). However, the find that delighted me most was a specimen of an ichthyosaur – Ichthyosaurus sp (Fig. 3). I was initially told that it had been assumed to be a replica or cast, as it had become confused with an unrelated cast used for education purposes.
Fig. 3. The highlight of the museum – the Ichthyosaur skeleton.
However, curatorial staff were under no illusion that this information was false. Looking at the fossil, my instincts told me that this was too good to be a cast and was, in fact, the real thing. The even more intriguing thing about this ichthyosaur was the fossilised gastric contents scattered around the ribs and across the specimen. It was comprised of several very small, coleoid cephalopod hooklets, giving an insight into the animal’s last meal before death – specimens of this sort of thing are extremely rare for this species. It is now on display in the museum and will remain on display after the ‘Fabulous Fossils’ exhibition has ended.
Fig. 4. The author putting the new display together.
A problem arose once the final selection of specimens for display had been made. The museum’s collection was not broad enough to allow for a display covering all geological time periods. On discussion with Peter, I mentioned that my own collection could provide specimens that the museum did not have examples of, and thereby increase the diversity and quantity of specimens on display. Once I had selected items from my own collection for display, my fossils made up over half of the exhibition. While the museums collection is largely made up of fossils from the UK, my collection is from all over the world (ranging from Africa to Brazil), which allowed us to show some of the diversity and similarities of fossils, worldwide.
Approximately 150 fossils made the final selection for display. For each of the specimens, I had to create detailed labels, requiring me to ensure that the information for each label was factually correct. On each label, I included the object display number, time period, common name, scientific name (genus and species), a phonetic spelling of the name, where the fossil was found, a brief description and museum catalogue number.
Fig. 5. The finished display.
Many of the labels included images that show what the specimen may have looked like in life. The Doncaster Museum fossils were given extra, in-depth labels, which included extra information such as the correct stage of the particular time periods from which they came and a more detailed description of the fossils to facilitate future opportunities for research. The design of the labels was based on feedback from the museum’s education officer, Alan Hall, specifically to be accessible to children and non-specialists.
Creating the timeline was an exciting part of the project to work on. I looked at examples in other museums, including Sheffield’s Weston Park Museum and The Wyoming Dinosaur Center, and also at books and the Internet to help create my own version. I looked at the way they explained each period and epoch, and how they represented each individual section. When creating my own timeline, I tried to replicate the others I had seen by explaining such things as the flora and fauna at different geological times, how animals adapted to their environment, the climate at the time and how life progressed and changed, but in my own words. The timeline brought the fossil groups into context by giving the visitor a quick introduction to each geological time period and painting (quite literally, with the use of a graphic illustration) a picture of how the planet might then have looked.
The whole exhibition was pulled together by the creation of a set of 11 graphic text panels, dealing with themes such as fossil collecting (Fig. 6), fossilisation processes, and regional and local fossil geology. One of the panels was designed to explain the most common fossils found in and around Doncaster, which come from local coal mines and quarries. The same panel deals with the Jurassic, where I explain that fossils have not been found in the area from that period, but some, such as ammonites and trace fossils like dinosaur footprints, have been found, close by, on the Yorkshire coast.
Fig. 6. The fossil hunting essentials kit, kindly loaned to us by UKGE and Deposits.
There is also a panel looking at the links between private and museum collections, such as how many museums were originally formed from private collections. This topic is meant to be one of the key talking points of the Fabulous Fossils exhibition, because we hope it will encourage people (especially youngsters), who want to start a fossil collection or to understand fossils and palaeontology, to go about it in the right way. In this way, we hope they will record and look after their collections so that, one day, they might contribute to research or even donate their collections to a museum. Other panels include a very brief history of palaeontology and how the visitors to the museum can get actively involved in this subject.
The exhibition opened in April, 2009 at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery (Fig. 7), and was given pride of place in the museum’s foyer display cases. It is the first exhibit that greets visitors as they enter the museum and has been very popular with visitors so far, receiving overwhelmingly positive comments. Due to the sheer amount of interest in the exhibit, the length of time the exhibition will be on has now increased from six months to a potential one to three years.
Fig. 7. View of the exhibition, after being opened to the public.
Putting together this exhibition gave me a great opportunity to expand my knowledge and expertise in palaeontology, and to learn new skills relating to museum curatorial roles and exhibition work. I also had the opportunity to work with fossil specimens I would otherwise not easily have had a chance to see. Importantly, it gave me a great opportunity to show how passionate I am towards palaeontology, what I can achieve and that I have the dedication and skills to be able to create a professional exhibition. It was an honour to be given the responsibility of putting together an exhibition professionally and being in charge of such an interesting collection. I feel a great sense of achievement when I see the exhibit in all its glory, knowing that people are learning about palaeontology and sharing the experience that was, for me, a great pleasure to be involved with.
Dean Lomax’s website is at: www.palaeocritti.com.