Rare Discoveries at the Booth Museum

Edmontonia Dinosaur, a related species of the Ankylosaurus. Artist impression © Mariana Ruiz Villarreal (wikimedia commons)

Following the visit of a noted academic, a number of the fossils in Brighton Museum’s collections have been found to be preserved parts of armoured dinosaurs (nodosaurids) commonly known as anklyosaurs. Any examples of nodosaurid fossils are rare in the United Kingdom, so to have so many ‘discovered’ at one time is quite exciting.

The discovery started last year when Andy Ottaway, an occasional volunteer at the Booth Museum, came across a fossil he suspected to be part of an Ankylosaur. He contacted his colleague Dr William Blows, an expert on the nodosaurids (armoured dinosaurs) who was interested, but unable to visit at that time.

Dr William Blows

Jumping forward to April 2012, Dr Blows was invited to speak at the Brighton Geological Society meeting at Blatchington Mill. He took the opportunity to visit the Booth Museum collections and look at the possible ankylosaur bone, as well as looking through the other fossils associated with it. The fossil was a part of the collection of Arthur Foster Griffith, an alderman of Brighton, who donated large collections to Brighton Museum, and was involved with the Booth Museum. This particular collection was a large number of specimens from the Cambridge Green Sand formation. The specimens are all identified as belonging to the Upper Albian of the Cretaceous period dating them to between 99.6 and 112 million years old. Although the fossils have no record of when they were collected, it seems reasonable that Griffith, a lifelong Brightonian, may have collected or purchased them whilst at university at Cambridge in the 1870s.

Presacral

The bone initially thought to be part of an ankylosaur was formally identified as the anterior end of a pre-sacral rod. This was explained as a ‘series of fused dorsal vertebrae which is fused to the anterior end of the sacrum’. This pre-sacral rod is combined with the sacrum to form the synsacrum, a characteristic unique to nodosaurid dinosaurs.

Through Dr Blow’s further exploration of the collection, he was also able to identify a number of nodosaurid dermal scutes, which are hard plate scales on the animal’s skin (hence armoured dinosaurs).

Collar

His final discovery was a particularly rare series of fossils making up part of the cervical armour ring that was found around the dorsal surface of an nodosaurid neck. These had all been labelled simply as ‘deinosaurian’.

Dr Blows now hopes to publish our specimens as part of a scientific paper, giving our collections wider exposure in the scientific community. His talk to the Geological Society was also a great success and the nodosaurid skull casts he brought along as props were fascinating.

Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences

Practising Taxidermy at the Booth

I’ve been interested in Taxidermy since I was around 9 years old, when I went to visit a family friend’s home in Norfolk. This particular family friend is Emily Mayer; a very talented and successful Taxidermist. I was overwhelmed with the realisation that the animals I admired so much could have their beauty preserved after death, and I was completely in awe.

Georgia practising taxidermy

I started collecting taxidermy a couple of years ago, when I was finally in a position where I could afford to save up for the odd piece! This ‘collection’ only consists of a Pine Martin, a Japanese Courli bird (both bought at markets in Brighton) and a magpie so far, but it can only grow!

Back in September 2011, I was put in touch with Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences at the Booth Museum, because I decided that I wanted to learn how to do Taxidermy myself, so that I could appreciate and understand the art of it, and be able to put the skills to good use.

Lee has a collection of headless seagulls in the workshop freezer, so on my first day he started by letting me practice on its body whilst he supervised and worked on a woodpecker.

The level of detail and precision required was more than I could have imagined… Making sure you pull all the innards out without cutting through the skin is a job that requires patience and a strong stomach!

Despite the smell of the seagull’s guts, it was a really interesting experience.

Seagull Wing

Since then, I have done a seagull wing and a seagull foot, which is a bit simpler than the body as it’s just a case of pulling out some tendons. On my second or third session, I really enjoyed sewing up a seagull foot, which I then took home. I’m planning on mounting it in a frame and putting on my wall!

Last week, Lee got out an old buzzard which had been skinned a while back, but that still needed stuffing for use as a study piece for the Booth Museum. I really enjoyed making its body mould, as it involves measuring the exact size of the bird and making a shape out of wood wool, with cotton reel wrapped tightly around it to make it sturdy.

Once the shape was right, it was placed inside the bird and I sewed it up. With the wire now stuck through its legs, and up its neck and through the forehead, it was no longer the limp corpse of a bird. It was beginning to take form and look lifelike.

This made me very happy and excited; I can’t wait to carry on with it next time I’m at the Booth Museum again.

Georgia Flowers, Volunteer

Being the Co-ordinator of the Museum Collective

I have been with the Museum Collective at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery since it began in May 2010. I’ve seen many new faces come and go and take their experiences gained from the museum to new places around the United Kingdom and internationally.

Members of the Museum Collective

The Collective has grown from an original six or seven people to about 20, thanks to Rachel getting the word out about us in and outside of the museum, and through members spreading the word amongst their friends.

Members of the Museum Collective

What are we for? Well, this is largely up to us. We are events planners and a focus group for the museum. Most importantly, we are open to everyone in the group having their say. Each person has a different reason for joining. I wanted to get experience in a museum setting, and I can now apply this to other museums or galleries. I have also gained extra benefits, meeting new people and having influence, and knowing that I am really contributing to the changes in the museum.

A bit more about the Museum Collective: we are here to attract those young people who may not usually visit a museum. Museums still interest people who are normally not interested in history, they’re open to everyone – and our Collective promotes this – young people from all backgrounds feeding back their opinions and ideas. When we meet, it’s diverse; we have guys and girls, different backgrounds and different interests and desires. The one thing that members have in common is age; between 16 and 21. This helps us plan workshops and events to suit our age group.

Papier Mache Landscape

My role is the Collective co-ordinator and my main duty is to encourage and inform members, but there is a lot more to it than this; the most bizarre thing I did was to make a trip to the Booth Museum to pick up an interesting collection of cased stuffed animals and give them a taxi ride to Brighton Museum for a workshop.  I have also helped to frantically construct an entire coastal landscape from papier mache, and ordered an extortionate amount of plasticine over the phone.

Two main highlights from my time at the museum come to mind: helping to plan both White Night 2010 and 2011 and meeting with the designers of the new World Stories gallery which will open this summer. The White Night events were a storming success with over 2000 people attending this year, hopefully encouraging these visitors to come back again!

Achieving what the group conceives takes a lot of imagination and determination. Shadow puppets and papier mache worlds were lavish ideas to create considering the fact that we as a group had never planned events before. Somehow it all worked out with the help of museum staff and extra support from creative people hopping on board.

We meet once every three weeks on Tuesday from 6 – 8pm at the museum.  This is a great chance to get involved in something creative, work in a team and meet a variety of people. Oh, and of course, most importantly get your ideas heard and have fun!  To find out more email Rachel, our Community Engagement Officer via the form below. We look forward to meeting you!

Julia Stafford, Museum Collective co-ordinator

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