Child in museum lobby with Stan. Photo by Caitlin Jenkins/NM Museum of Natural History & Science
Opening day of the ‘A Great Journey of Dinosaurs’ exhibit at the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, Fukui, Japan, July 7, 2016, in front of the animatronics Bistahieversor sealeyi, a tyrannosaur dinosaur known only from New Mexico. Photo by Thomas WilliamsonNMMNHS News:
ALBUQUERQUE ― The lobby at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science is evolving dramatically over the next few weeks, the beginning of many upgrades planned at the state’s most popular museum through the end of the year.
These include upgrades to the Planetarium, Volcano and Earthquake exbibits later in the fall. The most obvious changes will greet visitors immediately as soon as they walk into the atrium.
Stan, the beloved T.rex, who has resided in the lobby of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) since 2007, is moving on to greener pastures as the museum prepares for the installation of new dynamic Bisti Beast in May. Named after Stan Sacrison, the paleontologist who discovered him, Stan is a replica of a dinosaur that lived about 66 million years ago whose fossilized bones were found in 1987 near Buffalo, SD.
This week Museum exhibit crews are disassembling Stan (see media resources below for link to video) and packing him up to move to the Farmington Museum where he will remain on loan through May 2020. Known for regional history, culture and exhibitions, the Farmington Museum has adequate space to display the giantT.rex which stands 12 feet high and 40 feet long. Stan will travel to Farmington on April 23. He will be carefully rebuilt and installed at the museum for visitors to enjoy. Later, Stan begins a multiyear tour to bring pleasure and education to rural New Mexicans.
In Stan’s place, the NMMNHS will present New Mexico’s own Bistahieversor robotic dinosaur created based on the Bisti Beast specimen discovered in 1997 in the Bisti/De-na-zin Wilderness in the Four Corners by museum research associated Paul Sealy. The Bisti Beast fossil was excavated in 1998, collected by NMMNHS Curator of Palentology, Thomas Williamson, Ph.D.
The life-size dynamic Bisti Beast will take Stan’s place in the Museum atrium when it arrives from Japan in May. Look for the Bisti Beast on full exhibition beginning in July 2019. It will become one of the museum’s key attractions, as the replica of a dinosaur that was indigenous to New Mexico. (prior news releases:http://media.newmexicoculture.org/release/817/bring-new-mexicos-bisti-beast-home-in-a-
“These are significant changes, and the first we’ve had in a long time at the Museum,” said Margie Marino, NMMNSH Executive Director. “We’re thrilled the Farmington Museum will share Stan with visitors in the Four Corners region. And, we’re extremely excited to welcome the dynamic Bisti Beast, a New Mexico dinosaur to enhance our visitors’ experience. There’s a whole new reason to bring the children to the Natural History Museum this summer. Keep an eye out for time-lapse photography of the changes on our website and Facebook pages.”
Check the Museum website & Facebook Page for updates on the lobby renovation:
