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Crystal Palace dinosaurs have a new friend! Scientists have rebuilt a Victorian-era sculpture of a bizarre horse-like creature that roamed Britain 44 million years ago
- Scientists have rebuilt a Victorian-era sculpture of Palaeotherium magnum
- The original statue disappeared from Crystal Palace Park in the 1960s
- It will return this weekend where it will be next to Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
It is widely regarded as one of the top attractions in London, and now tourists have another reason to visit the Crystal Palace dinosaurs.
Scientists at the Natural History Museum have rebuilt a Victorian-era sculpture of Palaeotherium magnum – a bizarre horse-like creature that roamed Britain 44 million years ago.
The original statue disappeared in the 1960s, but will return to the park this weekend where it will stand next to the famous Crystal Palace dinosaurs.
Professor Adrian Lister, an expert on paleo-mammals at the Natural History Museum, said: ‘The size of a small, fat pony, [Palaeotherium magnum] was a prowling mammal about 2 meters long and 1.3 meters high.
“It is incredibly exciting that visitors to the park can see this animal restored to its former glory.”
Natural History Museum scientists have rebuilt a Victorian-era sculpture of Palaeotherium magnum — a bizarre horse-like creature that roamed the Earth 44 million years ago
The original statue disappeared in the 1960s, but will return to the park this weekend, where it will sit next to the famous Crystal Palace dinosaurs (pictured)
Crystal Palace’s ‘Dinosaurs’ consist of about 30 paleontological statues, although only four actually represent dinosaurs.
The others include plesiosaurs, icthyosaurs, pterodactyls, crocodilians, amphibians and mammals.
The statues were sculpted between 1853 and 1855 by famed natural history artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and were the world’s first attempted models of life-size extinct animals.
While we now know that many of the sculptures are wildly inaccurate, that adds somewhat to their charm, with thousands of tourists flocking to South London every year to see them.
Ellinor Michel, an evolutionary biologist at the Natural History Museum and president of the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, said: ‘The sculptures are of enormous historical and scientific importance.
“First opening for the Natural History Museum 28 years ago, the exhibit was the first time models of extinct creatures have been used to engage people in science and the natural world in an accessible, entertaining way.
“It was also the first ‘walk through geological time’ and for many visitors this was their first introduction to the idea of lost worlds of animals and environments that no longer exist.”
Palaeotherium magnum lived in Britain from 44.5 million to 33.5 million years ago and was about the size of a small horse
Benjamin Waterhouse sculpted the creature, but bizarrely it has been missing for over 50 years (artist’s impression)
Starting July 2, the “dinosuars” will have a new friend in the form of a Palaeotherium magnum sculpture reconstructed by paleo artist Bob Nicholls.
Palaeotherium magnum lived in Britain from 44.5 million to 33.5 million years ago and was about the size of a small horse.
Benjamin Waterhouse sculpted the creature in the 1850s, but bizarrely it has been missing for over 50 years.
“Its whereabouts are completely unknown, especially since the sculptures were moved more than once in the twentieth century, but its absence is now a sad missing part of the park,” explained Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs.
The new sculpture will be unveiled on Sunday 2 July at 2 p.m.