Thursday, October 25, 2012

Allosaurus Reconstruction

Stop by the museum and see the reconstruction work taking place in the Observation Labs on the Allosaurus. (general admission rates apply) You can speak with a preparator one on one and watch as the tedious task of taking apart and reconstructing a dinosaur takes place.

Casey Dooms, Lab Assistant, chipping away at the base of the Allosaurus to free it so it can be taken apart and reconstructed.

John Bird, Paleontology Technician, sizing up his opponent. Taking apart the Allosaurus piece by piece allows for easier removal. All pieces must be removed in order for the reconstruction to take place.

John Bird and Dr. Tim Riley, Curator of Archaeology for the museum team up on the take down of Al.

Dr. Riley with his prize. It appears that archaeologists dabble in paleontology from time to time.


Casey and John work together to remove the Allosaurus legs. This will enable them to remove it from the platform it is mounted on where it can be worked on in the Observation Labs.

Dr. Ken Carpenter, museum director and paleontologist, far left, oversees the project as John Bird, front, Casey Dooms, and Ralph Escamilla, museum volunteer, far right, work on removing pieces of the Allosaurus.

All of the preparations that took place in the above photos allowed for the Allosaurus mount to be slid down from the platform awaiting reconstruction.

Stop by the museum and watch as the progress takes place. This is an interesting procedure. The newly mounted Allosaurus, in an action pose, will make a great addition to the dinosaurs in the old dinosaur pit!