Dinosaurs were wonderful creatures, and we still haven’t fully discovered them as humanity. At least we have a chance to see as much as we can discover today, or is it really so?
Do the structures that we see in museums, in which bones are brought together to form a skeleton, really belong to dinosaurs? This question is a little difficult to answer because it is a complex subject, but not impossible; So let’s find out if the dinosaur bones in museums are real.
Let’s start with the most basic: What is the ‘fossil’ we always hear about, how is it formed and how is it unearthed?
The fossil is evidence of prehistoric life, either a plant or animal, and is at least 10,000 years old. The most common fossil forms are bones and teeth (body fossils), but footprints and skin remains (trace fossils) are also included in fossils.
fossils; Ancient stream beds, lakes, caves, volcanic ash residues and tar pits can be obtained from many different environmental shapes. So how are fossils formed? In fact, many of the ancient creatures were consumed by another organism or deteriorated due to climate effects before they could turn into fossils.
But when the right conditions are met, they turn into the fossils we see today, but what are these conditions? The fossilization process of an animal begins if it is buried with sediments such as sand or silt after the animal dies. The layers of sediment under which it is buried protect the animal from decay. The fleshy parts of the body are eroded, leaving only the hard parts such as bones, teeth and horns.
Of course, this process we are talking about is not such a short period of time, as we said before, it takes at least 10,000 years for this to happen. After all these processes have taken place, all that remains is to extract the fossil.
To unearth fossils, they must first be found, and for this, paleontologists organize expeditions to areas where fossils are most likely to be found. Significant funding and careful planning are required for fieldwork to be successful.
Paleontologists often conduct fieldwork in areas where fossils have been found before, but if they can’t find it, they try to locate the rock from the age of the fossil they are looking for, using geological maps and satellite photos.
When the paleontologist finds a fossil fragment, he brushes the dust off the surface to see how much of it is buried in the ground. If a large part of the sample is underground, excavation operations are started. As the fossil bone is exposed, special glue is applied to the cracks and fractures to hold the fossil together.
A trench is then dug around the fossil so that the fossil rests on a foundation but is still covered with rock or matrix. A moist toilet paper is placed over the fossilized bones before a layer of plaster bandage is wrapped around the matrix to create a hard cast, like a doctor’s recipe for a broken bone. Once the mold has hardened, the fossil is excavated by breaking off the matrix from the underlying rock, and the fossil in the mold is packaged to be sent to the museum.
And let’s come to our main question: Are the dinosaur bones we see in museums real today?
As you can understand from what we have said so far, fossils are very fragile structures. Getting it out and ready to be exhibited in the museum is a very delicate process. This naturally raises the question of whether scientists display replica dinosaur bones in museums so that the real ones are not damaged.
Actually, there are two answers to this question: both yes and no. Yes, 90% of the bones you see in museums (unfinished parts are restored with plaster) really belong to prehistoric dinosaurs. No, because the ‘bones’ that make up the skeleton in museums are no longer bones, but rather rocks.
After thousands of years of fossilization, the bones of dinosaurs do not have the structure we call bones today. However, they still formed the skeleton of a creature that once lived thousands of years ago.
Thus, we get the answer to our question. In summary, the dinosaur bones exhibited in museums really belong to dinosaurs, but they are no longer bones. What are you thinking? Please do not forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Sources: Field Museum, The Guardian, American Museum of Natural History
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