One of the biggest dinosaurs ever to have walked the Earth will be making an appearance at The Dinosaurs of China exhibition which is taking place at Wollaton Hall and the University's Lakeside Arts in summer 2017.
The Mamenchisaurus, which lived 145 million to 160 million years ago and would have stood as high as three double decker buses, will be displayed in a rearing pose that will be the full height of Wollaton's great hall.
The Mamenchisaurus is one of 26 dinosaur specimens that are coming to Wollaton Hall and Nottingham Lakeside Arts between July and the end of October 2017, in what is a world exclusive exhibition featuring dinosaurs never before seen outside of Asia.
Feathered dinosaurs
Other large exhibits include one of the largest predatory dinosaurs, the Sinraptor, closely related to the Allosaurus, which lived during the Jurassic age and stood 3 metres high and over 7 metres long.
The exhibition will also include a large number of feathered dinosaurs, illustrating the evolution of dinosaurs into birds. Some of these specimens include the Gigantoraptor, which at 4 metres high, is the biggest bird-like dinosaur in the world, and at the other end of the scale, the Microraptor, a 77 cm long small flying dinosaur.
The exhibition is a collaboration between Nottingham City Council, The University of Nottingham and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. The collection coming to Nottingham is from the Paleozoological Museum of China, Shandong TianYu Museum, and the Dinosaur Museum of Erlianhaote in Inner Mongolia.
Tickets now on sale Tickets are now on sale for the main 'Dinosaurs of China – Ground Shakers to Feathered Flyers' exhibition at Wollaton Hall between 1 July and 29 October 2017 and are available to purchase on www.dinosaursofchina.co.uk
Early purchasers will also be able to buy a preview ticket, to be amongst the first to see the world-exclusive exhibition on Saturday 1 July.
In addition to the main exhibition at Wollaton Hall, there will also be a free satellite exhibition at The University of Nottingham's Lakeside Arts centre which will feature the two dinosaurs - Alxasaurus and Dilophosaurus, as well as exhibits from its own collection.
How do we know what they looked like?
Dr Wang Qi from The University of Nottingham’s Department of Architecture and Built Environment is working to design and build an interactive exhibition at Lakeside to tell the story of the dinosaurs. The exhibition at Lakeside will explore ‘how do we know what dinosaurs actually looked like’ and 'how can we recreate this'.
The exhibits are being shipped from China to the UK on loan from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing and the Long Hao Institute of Geology and Paleontology Inner Mongolia.
It will take approximately 40 days to ship the exhibits door to door, and it is estimated they will leave China towards the end of April to arrive in the UK early June.
A team of technicians from each institute will fly over to arrive a similar time and will lead the technical aspect of the exhibits’ build alongside the whole exhibition installation.
Tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the UK
Dr Adam Smith, Curator of Natural Sciences at the Natural History Museum, Wollaton Hall, said: “The Mamenchisaurus will be the tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton in the UK, ever. In its rearing up pose it is as high as three double decker buses stacked on top of each other. Mamenchisaurus might have reared up like this to protect itself from large predators such as Sinraptor, the skeleton of which will be posed hunting Mamenchisaurus inside Wollaton Hall.”
Councillor Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture said: "We are so proud to be working with The University of Nottingham to bring this World Exclusive Exhibition to Nottingham. We look forward to welcoming visitors from all over the UK and beyond."
Jason Feehily, Director of Knowledge Exchange, Asia for The University of Nottingham, commented: “Due to the great links that both the University and Nottingham City Council have made in China over the 12 years since we established our Ningbo campus, we now have a unique opportunity to host a natural history exhibition of international significance in Nottingham, which will be a tremendous boost both to tourism and the local economy."
Feathered friends from China
Rachel Feneley, Nottingham Lakeside Arts' Learning Officer (pictured above), added: “Who could not be excited by Dinosaurs? We look forward to welcoming thousands of visitors to try their hands at becoming a Palaeontologist, and to consider how science and art have helped us to shape how we think about dinosaurs today. Over the four months of the exhibition we will offer a wide range of activities for all ages to learn about our new feathered friends from China.”
For further details about The Dinosaurs of China exhibition or to buy tickets, visit www.dinosaursofchina.co.uk
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