The Miami Museum in Miami, Manitoba is embarking on an exciting new project to restore and mount a spectacular Mosasaur fossil from its collection and the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre has partnered on the project becoming a Platinum Sponsor.
The specimen is the holotype of the Mosasaur species Tylosaurus pembinensis, Manitoba’s official fossil emblem. A holotype is a single type specimen upon which the description and name of a species is based.
A fund-raising effort has been launched to ensure the project reaches completion in time for the museum’s 45th anniversary which happens to be the 30th anniversary of the species discovery.
“We are honoured and excited to be a part of this initiative,” said CFDC executive director Peter Cantelon. “We have an opportunity to help out a fellow museum and contribute to the long-term preservation of this scientifically important specimen so that Manitobans and visitors from abroad can enjoy it.”
At approximately 12 metres long this mounted skeleton will be Canada’s second largest Mosasaur, the largest being the CFDC’s Bruce, and feature the actual fossils of the creature.
“The Tylosaur pembinensis is a very rare type of Mosasaur in this part of what used to be known as the Western Interior Seaway,” said CFDC palaeontologist Victoria Markstrom. “The preservation and presentation of this holotype is very important.”
The mount is being constructed by Adolfo Cuetara, an expert fossil perpetrator based in Morden most recently known for the construction of a 7 metre long Allosaurus skeleton on display at the CFDC.
A temporary exhibit on mosasaurs and plesiosaurs, including some fossils, will be in place during the summer at the Miami Museum while the Mosasaur skeleton mount is being prepared.
“This is a labour of love,” said Miami Museum representative Joe Brown. “I have spent a lifetime studying and collecting fossils and the significance of what we have here in Miami cannot be understated. I am thrilled the CFDC has partnered with us and look forward to others joining the effort to see this great new exhibit come to reality.”
For more information about the project and how to become a sponsor email museum representative Joe Brown at [email protected].
