The council shares this latest news about Dinosaur Isle’s world class fossil collection. Ed
Dinosaur Isle’s world class fossil collection has recently been given special recognition with sponsorship and invitation to display at Europe’s biggest fossil and mineral show, the Munich Show.
Held annually, the show attracts over 40,000 visitors from around the world and is one of the world’s leading venues for gem, mineral and fossil collectors.
Special invitation
This year the show’s organisers invited Dinosaur Isle to exhibit with equal prominence with some of Europe’s leading museums, including the Natural History Museum, London. A small team led by museum curator and general manager, Dr Martin Munt, exhibited some of the museum’s newest finds including the bones, set into a reconstructed skull of the carnivorous dinosaur Baryonyx.
Other specimens showed included the skeleton of the small dinosaur Hypsilophodon and bones of Iguanodon.
Dr Munt, said:
“The Baryonyx skull proved an instant success, with queues of school children being directed to see it. As this was the first time bones of this dinosaur had been exhibited outside of the United Kingdom it proved a very popular exhibit with other exhibitors and visitors to the show.”
Dinosaur capital of Europe
Councillor Shirley Smart, Executive member for heritage and tourism at the Isle of Wight Council, said:
“Exhibiting at the Munich show was a great opportunity for Dinosaur Isle to show off the Island’s dinosaurs to a large audience with an interest in the subject, promoting the Island as the dinosaur capital of Europe and a top tourist destination.”
