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A magical mystery tourMost dinosaurs were never meant to fly, but a team of dedicated Monash earth scientists have given wings to their collection and sent it on a tour of the modern world. COREY NASSAU reports Seventy-five million years ago, a lone Tarbosaurus roamed the prehistoric vista of what is today the continent of Asia. Although smaller than its predatory relative Tyrannosaurus, the imposing reptile was an equally respected member of the evolutionary show.
Following a long flight and accompanied by internationally respected palaeontologist Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich, this Tarbo-saurus is in Europe for the first time. It’s a hard life as a dinosaur under instruction from Professor Vickers-Rich, who is the personal chair and professor of palaeontology at Monash, and the schedule is intensive. More than 3.5 million people worldwide saw the Russian Dinosaurs exhibition coordinated by her Monash team a few years ago, and already close to one million have visited the current exhibit, Dinosaurs of Darkness, since it opened last year. “A lot of people have come to see this exhibition, and I am pleased for our group because it’s really a grass roots setup run by scientists and technicians in their spare time,” Professor Vickers-Rich says. “No-one else has ever put a polar dinosaur exhibition together, and it’s exciting because the main part of it is Australian material – much of which has never travelled or toured the world before.” The polar dinosaur collection, which travels as two exhibitions, is made up of more than 100 pieces that have been unearthed in Australia, Antarctica, Alaska, New Zealand and southern South America. The specimens range from whole skeletons to tiny lower jawbones, plant materials and fossil logs. When Dinosaurs of Darkness opened at the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July last year, more than 2500 people came to see the exhibition on the Sunday – a stark difference to the average of 75 who would usually visit the museum. “It was probably the first really big dinosaur exhibition they had seen, and it was great for Monash because for many it was their first contact with the university,” Professor Vickers-Rich says. The polar dinosaur exhibition later travelled to the United States, where it was part of Dinofest (the world’s largest dinosaur exhibition) at Chicago’s Navy Pier Exhibition Complex, and then on to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. “The hardest thing with exhibitions is to be able to place them so that you don’t have too much downtime,” Professor Vickers-Rich says. “We have already received signs of interest from Slovenia, Scotland and England for a smaller exhibition and from several places in North America and Australia for the big exhibition, so hopefully we can continue to move this unique collection along.” The success of the exhibitions has allowed Professor Vickers-Rich and her Monash colleagues to continue their core passions – finding dinosaurs and educating children about science through another initiative, the Monash Science Centre. “I got frustrated in the early 1990s with the science displays I went to see because they were really trivialising science,” she says. “Wheels would turn and lights flash without offering any real understanding of why these things were happening. We needed something that could explain scientific research and its outcomes properly – the ‘how’ of things – because science is a very potent tool and it is an inspiring thing to make people think and understand.” Last year, more than 30,000 school children took part in Monash Science Centre programs at the university’s Clayton campus. Holiday schedules are regularly booked out, and there are constant requests for teaching kits and school syllabus content both from within Australia and overseas. Professor Vickers-Rich and Monash University responded to this increasing demand with an ambitious new development that would better house the activities. The $4.2 million environmentally friendly building currently being built at the Clayton campus will open in 2002. “The centre will continue to attract school groups and families who will come to learn about science through a range of hands-on educational programs and interaction with university students and research staff,” she says. “These programs will not only encourage the children to ask questions but also, more importantly, give them ways of seeking out answers to encourage understanding and exploration in all areas of science.” Professor Vickers-Rich has been hunting dinosaurs, with her husband Dr Tom Rich from Museum Victoria, for almost 30 years. They were both recently honoured with a prestigious award from the Research Committee of the National Geographic Society. During February and March each year, when the weather is fine and the tides are low, they lead the Monash team that heads to Inverloch in south-eastern Victoria to unearth material that will keep them busy for the following year. To date their work has uncovered numerous palaeontological treasures, including Qanta-ssaurus (named after Qantas, the major sponsor of the travelling exhibitions), Leaellynasaura, Timimus, Koolasuchas and, what are perhaps the first proof of the existence of prehistoric placental mammals dated to 115 million years ago, Ausktri-bosphenos and Bishops. “This is a very contentious group that may be placental mammals (the group that eventually included humans) which were living down here in Australia long before they were supposed to be,” Professor Vickers-Rich says. The scientist explains that Inverloch is the richest site in Gondwana – the ancient supercontinent of which Australia was once a part – for these early mammals, and she hopes to continue unearthing new material over the next few years to support their case. “It’s really fantastic to find something that nobody else has ever found, knowing full well that 99 times out of 100 you won’t find anything. Then there’s that one time when you do that makes it worth the chase,” Professor Vickers-Rich says. “Given the chance to experience the same feeling, I think that most people would understand why it is we do this.” ACTION: To find out about forthcoming programs at the Monash Science Centre, contact Mrs Jennifer Monaghan on +61 3 9905 1370 or visit the website at www.sci.monash.edu.au/msc |
Fast forward to modern-day Europe and this dinosaur again has centre
stage, albeit this time as part of an exhibition in Monash University’s
Centre in Prato, Italy.