Credit: MNHN
Luxembourg's National Museum of Natural History (MNHN, also known as the "natur musée") has announced that it is organising a series of activities next week to celebrate the integration of the pliosaur fossil and its 3D reconstruction into its permanent exhibitions.
As of Saturday 25 January 2020, the fossil of a pliosaur and its 3D reconstruction will be permanently on display at the MNHN in Luxembourg City. "Simolestes keileni" was one of the largest pliosaurs that swam in the Jurassic oceans, 170 million years ago. An almost complete lower jaw and part of the postcranial skeleton were found in the 1980s at Montois-la-Montagne in Lorraine and bequeathed by the discoverers to the MNHN. The fossil was exhibited for the first time at the MNHN in 2018 during the "Unexpected Treasures" exhibition, which took place as part of the European Year of Cultural Heritage.
A specialised team carried recently carried out a reconstruction of the head of this Jurassic monster, thanks to the support of the Amis du Musée national d'histoire naturelle a.s.b.l. From 25 January, the reconstruction will be exhibited alongside the original fossil at the MNHN.
To mark this occasion, the palaeontology section of the MNHN will organise guided tours and workshops for the general public on Sunday 26 January 2020. Activities include a sea monster drawing competition (first prize: exclusive visit to the laboratory and palaeontological collections), taking place between 10:00 and 18:00, a guided tour of the museum's Jurassic sea monsters from 15:00 to 16:00 and a workshop on molding a pliosaur tooth from 15:00 to 17:00.
