Virginia Museum of Natural History

Big Al's Web page

Here on Big Al’s Web page, you can follow the adventures of the most popular dinosaur located at Virginia’s Museum of Natural History--Big Al himself. As the VMNH education e-newsletter mascot, Big Al continues to serve the museum in a variety of ways! Learn about his creation as well as the original discovery of the Allosaurus dinosaur of which he was replicated from. On this page you will find…

Who is Big Al and what makes him so unique?

When "Big Al" was discovered in 1991, one of the most fascinating paleontological mysteries began to unfold. The skeleton was found on public lands near Shell, Wyoming. Research on this specimen provided exciting new information on Allosaurus, (the dominant predator of the Late Jurassic of North America), as well as the environment in which it lived. "Big Al" has gained international recognition, as the scenario of its tragically painful life, early death, and rapid burial has been told through interactive exhibits and state-of-the-art-television programs.

Learn how Big Al found VMNH.

Below are pictures of the casting processes for Big Al at VMNH.

We chose Big Al because it was found near Shell, Wyoming, close to where VMNH was conducting an excavation. We have a few Allosaurus bones and teeth from the VMNH site, but Big Al was the most complete Allosaurus ever found (95% complete).

For more information about Big Al:

This months' edition of Big Al's Almanac

August 2011

Al-o-links

To learn more about the amazing discoveries we unearthed with this amazing dinosaur, click here: http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/paleontology/pub/
fossil_conference_6/breithaupt.htm
Further your adventures by exploring our Paleontology Blog by clicking here: http://web.me.com/dooleyclan/Site_2/Blog/Blog.html

Click here to sign up for VMNH Education e-newsletter, Big Al’s Almanac!


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