Did they mess this famous fossil up?

Since the fossil was put on display in the new Sternberg it's looked like this.



But in the old museum it looked like this....



Another link to a larger photo in the present museum. http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=2433

Someone told me they just painted around the bones of the smaller fish to highlight it more, but if it looked that way originally why wouldn't a man who spent so much time on fine details show it then? Personally I think something is fishy here.

I thought they admitted to screwing it up in the move.

When I asked at the museum a guy denied it. He said they just "enhanced" it. My suspicion is that when they made the mold off of it for the sculpture of Sternberg digging it up, some of it may have stuck in the molding material. Notice how the part in question isn't seen in the sculpture of Sternberg digging it?

The old boy would have gone berserk if he knew they messed it up to make a sculpture of him.

....new and improved......

I liked it as was. Here's the sculpture.

Link here

See how the altered part of the inner fish is not shown in the display? If what I think happened did, they poured a latex compound on the original to make a mold for a copy which may have pulled loose delicate parts of the smaller fish.

They may have intended to honor Sternberg, but they gave him a kick in the balls instead. Maybe modern dimwit tourists want to see phoney displays, but when I was a kid the orginal fish was more than enough. The Mosasaur and Tarpon displays as seen in real life the Sternberg has are great, and those combined with the original fossils are more than enough to excite the imagination.

If someone connected with the museum is reading this, know when to quit. 3D sculptures can help a show, but at the cost of the real thing it's too expensive.

Ratzilla wrote:

I liked it as was. Here's the sculpture.

Link here



If someone connected with the museum is reading this, know when to quit. 3D sculptures can help a show, but at the cost of the real thing it's too expensive.