Bozeman, Mont. — A new permanent exhibit at the Museum of the Rockies will bring visitors face to face with Big Al, an Allosaurus from the late Jurassic period, starting next Friday.
The new exhibit, “A Dinosaur Makeover: Face to Face with Big Al” was made possible by a $63,000 grant from the David B. Jones Foundation.
Museum leaders say Big Al lived roughly 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period and will now become part of the museum’s permanent exhibits in Bozeman.
Visitors will be able to see Big Al’s original skull that was distorted when the animal became stuck in a rock formation.
One of the main attractions of the upcoming exhibit will be a full 3-D printed and scanned reconstruction of Big Al’s skull that technicians have been working to create. Big Al’s original skull is also on display at the Museum in their “Dinosaurs under the big sky” exhibit.
“This is a new 3-D printed skull and partial skeleton of Big Al, which is one of the most complete and well-preserved examples of carnivorous dinosaur, Allosaurus that’s ever been discovered,” said John Scannella, curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies.
The museum says more parts of Big Al’s story will be added to the exhibit through the summer as it is rolled out in phases. Phase two of the project includes a life size reconstruction of Big Al, while phase three provides visitors with their own touchscreen interactives to explore. Visitors will also be able to scan their own fossil casts.
“And this is the first phase. The second phase is going to be a life size, fleshed out reconstruction of the skull and bust,” said Scott Williams, senior director of exhibits and planetariums at the Museum of the Rockies, “And then it will be topped off with this cool interactive where you’ll see the 3-D scanning process and then get to scan something yourself and un-distort it on a touchscreen interactive.”
Museum experts say the exhibit also supports further dinosaur research by helping them study dinosaurs like Big Al and how they lived millions of years ago.
“Even though Big Al is one of the best-preserved examples of Allosaurus, its skull is a little bit crushed from spending more than 150 million years locked in rock,” said Scannella.
More information about the exhibit is available through Montana State University’s website at www.montana.edu.