Dippy
Catalog no. | CM 84 |
---|---|
Common name | Dippy |
Species | Diplodocus carnegii |
Age | 145–156 Ma[1] |
Place discovered | Sheep Creek Quarry D, near Medicine Bow, Wyoming; upper 10 m (33 ft) of the Talking Rock facies of the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation |
Date discovered | July 4, 1899 |
Discovered by | William Harlow Reed |
Dippy is a composite Diplodocus skeleton in Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and the holotype of the species Diplodocus carnegii. It is considered the most famous single dinosaur skeleton in the world, due to the numerous plaster casts donated by Andrew Carnegie to several major museums around the world at the beginning of the 20th century.[2][3]
The casting and distribution of the skeleton made the word dinosaur a household word;
Its discovery was catalyzed by the announcement of the excavation of a large thigh bone (unrelated to Dippy) by William Harlow Reed near Medicine Bow, Wyoming in December 1898.[7] On a return trip financed by Carnegie, Reed excavated Sheep Creek Quarry D in which he found the first part of Dippy's skeleton, a toe bone, on July 4, 1899.[8] Its discovery on Independence Day, and its use in American diplomacy via Carnegie's international donations of replicas, led to its being nicknamed the "star-spangled dinosaur".[9] Dippy became the centrepiece of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, such that the museum became known as "the house that Dippy built".[4][10]
In 2016, a petition to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature was being considered which proposed to make Diplodocus carnegii the new type species of Diplodocus.[11] The proposal was rejected in 2018, and D. longus has been maintained as the type species.[11][12]
Discovery
The skeleton was found in the upper 10 metres (33 ft) of the Talking Rock facies of the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation, in Albany County, Wyoming.[14]
In 1900, John Bell Hatcher was hired by William Jacob Holland as curator of paleontology and osteology for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, succeeding Jacob Lawson Wortman.[7] Hatcher supervised the field expeditions, excavations, investigation and display of Dippy, and named the species for Carnegie.[7] Hatcher's monograph on the find was published in 1901 as Diplodocus Marsh: Its Osteology, Taxonomy, and Probable Habits, with a Restoration of the Skeleton.[7]
It is a composite skeleton comprising:[15]
- CM 84: the majority of the skeleton, named Diplodocus carnegii, and published in 1901 by Hatcher
- CM 94: supplemented missing bones
- CM 307: the tail
- CM 662 and USNM 2673: skull elements. In 2015, the USNM skull was recategorized as Galeamopus, along with several other Diplodocus skulls, leaving no definite Diplodocus skulls known.[16]
- some foot and limb bones of a Camarasaurus
Pittsburgh display
The original skeleton has been on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History since April 1907, two years after the first cast was shown. The delay was due to construction work at the Pittsburgh museum, which needed expansion in order to house Dippy.[17] Today, the skeleton is part of the Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibition.[18]
Casts
Background
Industrialist Andrew Carnegie financed the acquisition of the skeleton in 1898, as well as the donation of the casts at the beginning of the 20th century.[19][20] His great-grandson, William Thomson, was quoted in 2019 explaining the donations: "By gifting copies to the heads of state of seven other countries as well as the UK, Carnegie hoped to demonstrate through mutual interest in scientific discoveries that nations have more in common than what separates them. He used his gifts in an attempt to open inter state dialogue on preserving world peace – a form of Dinosaur diplomacy."[21]
London cast
The London cast of Dippy came about when King
Dippy was taken to pieces and stored in the museum's basement during the Second World War to protect it from bomb damage, and reinstalled in the Reptile Gallery after the war. The original presentation of the cast was altered several times to reflect changes in scientific opinion on the animal's stance. The head and neck were originally posed in a downwards position, and were later moved to a more horizontal position in the 1960s.[25]
Dippy was removed from the Reptile Gallery in 1979 and repositioned as the centrepiece of the main central hall of the museum, later renamed the Hintze Hall in recognition of a large donation by
The cast became an iconic representation of the museum. After 112 years on display at the museum, the dinosaur replica was removed in early 2017 to be replaced by the 25 m (82 ft) long skeleton of a young
Dippy started a tour of British museums in February 2018, mounted on a new, more mobile armature.
Other casts
As director of the Carnegie Museums, William Holland supervised the donations of the casts. His trip to Argentina in 1912 was recorded by Holland in his 1913 travel book To the River Plate and Back. Holland noted a poem which had become popular among college students:[23][34]
Crowned heads of Europe
All make a royal fuss
Over Uncle Andy
And his old diplodocus.
Known casts include:
Date | Location | Material | Description | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 12, 1905 | Natural History Museum, London | Plaster cast | The first cast. Removed 2017. Further details at Dippy (London). | |
May 1908 | Museum für Naturkunde , Berlin |
Plaster cast | ||
June 15, 1908 | French National Museum of Natural History , Paris |
Plaster cast | ||
1909 | Natural History Museum in Vienna , Austria |
Plaster cast | ||
1909 | Giovanni Capellini Museum for Paleontology and Geology in Bologna, Italy | Plaster cast | Skulls from this cast (i.e., 'second-generation') are on display in museums in Milan and Naples. | |
1910 | Zoological Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg , Russia |
Plaster cast | Cast later moved to Moscow Paleontological Museum.[35] | |
1912 | Museo de la Plata in La Plata near Buenos Aires, Argentina | Plaster cast | The caster was donated to the country via president Saenz Peña and mounted by W. J. Holland | |
November 1913[36] | National Natural History Museum in Madrid, Spain | Plaster cast | ||
1930 | Museo de Paleontología in Mexico City | Plaster cast | ||
1932 | Paleontological Museum in Munich , Germany |
Plaster cast | Donated in 1932, but still unmounted. | |
1989 | Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum | Fibreglass and polyester cast | ||
1999 | Carnegie Museum of Natural History (outside) | Fibreglass cast | Outside the building in which the original skeleton is displayed; further details at Dippy (statue). |
Pittsburgh statue
In 1999 a public sculpture of Dippy was unveiled on the grounds of the
In addition to its service as a mascot for the museum, Dippy has been seen sporting the Terrible Towel of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the colors of University of Pittsburgh's athletic teams. Sometimes when it's cold out the staff dresses him up with a gigantic scarf.[39] Dippy is a featured Pittsburgh landmark on Yinztagram.[40]
Gallery
-
lithographof Dippy, from the first issue of Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History
-
1905 unveiling of the cast in London
-
1905 (24 May) Punch cartoon by Edward Tennyson Reed of Dippy with Natural History Museum director Ray Lankester
-
1905 (June 4)New York Timescoverage of the London cast
-
1908, at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh
-
1908 work on the cast of Dippy in Paris; Arthur Goggeshall and William Holland at front center
-
1922 image fromA Short History of the World
See also
- Gordo (dinosaur)
- Sophie the Stegosaurus
- Sue (dinosaur)
- Archie (squid)
References
- ^ Dippy: this is your life, Natural History Museum, Matthew Prosser, January 1, 2016
- ^ Ulrich Merkl 2015, p. 78"Although it narrowly failed to win the race with the New York Museum of Natural History in 1905, the Diplodocus carnegii is the most famous dinosaur skeleton today, due to the large number of casts in museums around the world"
- ^ Breithaupt, 2013, p. 49: ""Dippy" was and still is the most widely seen and best-known dinosaur ever found."
- ^ a b Moore 2014, p. 117.
- ^ Rea 2004, p. 11.
- ISBN 0-7853-0443-6.
- ^ a b c d Lowell Dingus 2018, pp. 290–291.
- ^ Breithaupt, 2013, p. 49
- ^ Ulrich Merkl 2015, p. 80.
- ISBN 978-1-64237-016-4.
- ^ S2CID 89131617.
- S2CID 92845326.
- ^ Breithaupt, 2013, p. 48
- ^ Brezinski and Kollar
- ^ Breithaupt, 2013, p. 49: "The first (CM 84) would become the type of D. carnegii ("Carnegie's double-beamed reptile") described by Hatcher in 1901. The second (CM 94) supplemented the missing bones of the first. Eventually, the tail (CM 307) and skull elements (CM 662 and USNM 2673) of Diplodocus specimens from other areas were used to complete the skeleton, as well as the foot and limb bones of Camarasaurus."
- PMID 25870766.
- ^ Rea 2004, pp. 198–199.
- ^ Carnegie NHM, The Two-Headed Dinosaur Archived June 9, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, July 11, 2018
- ^ Rea, 2001, pp. 1–11 and 198–216.
- ^ Lowell Dingus 2018, p. 410.
- ^ Dippy, ‘the UK’s most famous dinosaur’, arrives at Kelvingrove Museum, January 22, 2019
- ^ Rea 2004, p. 3, 163–164.
- ^ a b Holland, W. J. (1913). To the River Plate and Back. The narrative of a scientific mission to South America, with observations on things seen and suggested. New York & London: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
- ^ Rea 2004, p. 10.
- ^ a b The Telegraph, The life story of Dippy the dinosaur
- ^ Natural History Museum, A history in pictures: the Museum’s Hintze Hall
- ^ "Dippy and the Whale". DocuWiki. July 15, 2017.
- ^ McVeigh, Tracy (January 1, 2017). "Dippy's last days: diplodocus leaves London after 112 years for farewell UK tour". The Observer.
- ^ Fuller, George (January 4, 2017). "Dippy the Diplodocus bids farewell to his public at the Natural History Museum". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ "Dorset County Museum".
- ^ "Dippy on Tour: A Natural History Adventure". www.birminghammuseums.org.uk. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
- ^ "'Dippy' the Dinosaur begins epic journey to Belfast". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
- ^ Dinosaur on tour: host venues for Dippy the diplodocus announced , The Guardian, November 15, 2016
- ^ Nieuwland, Ilja (2010). The colossal stranger. Andrew Carnegie and Diplodocus intrude European Culture, 1904–1912. Endeavour 34(26).
- ^ Rea, 2004, p. 217
- ^ Pérez-Garcia, Adán; Sánchez Chillón, B. "Historia de Diplodocus carnegii del MNCN: primer esqueleto de dinosaurio en la Peninsula Iberica". Revista Española de Paleontologiá. 24 (2): 133–148.
- ^ Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Hip dinosaur Dippy, Oakland’s trendy dinosaur, June 25, 2014
- ^ Bob Batz, Jr. (1999). Dippy the dinosaur sculpture installation: story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Dippy Sides with the Panthers" (PDF). Pitt Chronicle. Vol. 10, no. 31. University of Pittsburgh. November 16, 2009. p. 2. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
- ^ "Yinztagram By Pegula". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. 2012. Archived from the original on August 28, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
Bibliography
Editio princeps
Secondary sources
- Ilja Nieuwland (April 30, 2019). American Dinosaur Abroad: A Cultural History of Carnegie's Plaster Diplodocus. University of PITTSBURGH Press. ISBN 978-0-8229-4557-4.
- Rea, Tom (April 1, 2004). Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur. University of Pittsburgh Pre. ISBN 978-0-8229-7258-7.
- Lowell Dingus (December 4, 2018). King of the Dinosaur Hunters: The Life of John Bell Hatcher and the Discoveries that Shaped Paleontology. Pegasus Books. ISBN 978-1-68177-930-0.
- Brezinski, D. K., & Kollar, A. D. (2008), Geology of the Carnegie Museum dinosaur quarry site of Diplodocus carnegii, Sheep Creek, Wyoming. Annals of Carnegie Museum, 77(2), 243–252.
- Ulrich Merkl (November 25, 2015). Dinomania: The Lost Art of Winsor McCay, The Secret Origins of King Kong, and the Urge to Destroy New York. Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1-60699-840-3.
- Breithaupt, Brent H, The discovery and loss of the “colossal” Brontosaurus giganteus from the fossil fields of Wyoming (USA) and the events that led to the discovery of Diplodocus carnegii: the first mounted dinosaur on the Iberian Peninsula, VI Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su Entorno, September 5–7, 2013, pp. 48–50
- Moore, Randy (July 23, 2014). Dinosaurs by the Decades: A Chronology of the Dinosaur in Science and Popular Culture: A Chronology of the Dinosaur in Science and Popular Culture. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-39365-5.
External links
- Dippy at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History Archived August 4, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- Diplodocus : this is your life, Natural History Museum
- Dippy on Tour, Natural History Museum
- Taking Dippy down: the first steps, Natural History Museum
- Natural History Museum unveils 'Dippy' the Diplodocus replacement Hope the blue whale, The Independent, July 14, 2017
- Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur, Tom Rea, pp. 1–11
- Bob Batz, Jr. (1999). Dippy the dinosaur sculpture installation: story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Archived June 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
- Rea, Tom (2001). Bone Wars: The Excavation and Celebrity of Andrew Carnegie's Dinosaur. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-4173-2.