Five Can’t-Miss Things at Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Discover the first fossil of the world’s most famous dinosaur, Egyptian artifacts, lapidary art and fossilized skeletons at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
First Fossil of the World’s Most Famous Dinosaur
Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s T. rex is quite literally the first fossil of the world’s most famous dinosaur. On display in Dinosaurs in Their Time, the T. rex is the holotype specimen – meaning it’s the specimen used to describe the species for the first time and the first to bear the name Tyrannosaurus rex. Most of what you see on display is the real fossil, but the skull is housed behind the scenes and used for research.
Header Image Credit: Joshua Franzos, Treehouse Media
New: From Egypt to Pittsburgh
Opening November 12, 2022, From Egypt to Pittsburgh showcases the stories of Egyptian artifacts in the museum’s care that have never been on display before. Visitors will learn how the objects got from Egypt to Pittsburgh as well as why the objects were made in the first place and the care being given to them now. This is one of the first publicly visible steps towards the museum’s plans to renovate Egypt Hall.
Watch Paleontologists at Work in PaleoLab
Peek into the big windows of PaleoLab to see paleontologists and scientific preparators at work preparing specimens for research or display. You might see them restoring a mastodon fossil or creating casts of dinosaur bones. Every day in PaleoLab is different, but you can see some past PaleoLab projects on the museum’s social media channels.
Fossil Skeletons in Cenozoic Era: Age of Mammals
Impressive fossil skeletons aren’t just for dinosaurs. Tucked between Dinosaurs in Their Time and Discovery Basecamp, the Cenozoic Era: Age of Mammals exhibition features more than 30 real fossil skeletons, including a Columbian mammoth. Game of Thrones fans enjoy seeing a Dire Wolf face to face with a sabretooth tiger, both of which were discovered in excavations of the La Brea Tar pits. The Irish Elk and Giant Ground Sloth are also visitor favorites.
Lapidary Art in Wertz Gallery
Among the 630 gems, crystals, and pieces of jewelry on display in Wertz Gallery you’ll find five pieces of lapidary art by Master of Optical Illusion Michael Dyber. Two are displayed in the Birthstones exhibit: “Straw,” cut from citrine is in the November section, and an untitled work created from beryl variety aquamarine is in the March section. In the Quartz as a Gemstone exhibit, you’ll find three exquisite pieces: “Twist,” “Sliders,” and “The Marc Wilson Citrine.”
