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Exhibition Review:	DinoBirds - The Feathered Dinosaurs of China
Worth Visiting Rating:	(Outstanding)
Presentation, Layout and Explanations:	(Just Ok)
Venue:	The Natural History Museum, London – 020 7942 5000
Nearest Tube:	South Kensington
Dates:	18th July 2002 to 5th May 2003
Cost:	£3.50 adults, £2 concessions free to under 5s and members. (See www.nhm.ac.uk/dinobirds for details) Entry to the Museum’s Main Galleries is Free

Reviewed By Stuart Brown

DinoBirds is the new exhibition at The Natural History Museum that aims to pull together all the different pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that points to how modern birds are linked to dinosaurs in evolutionary terms.

This has been achieved through a unique collaboration between China and Britain that sees the two most startling fossil discoveries that support this thesis brought together in the same room for the first time.

The story really starts with the discovery in 1861 of a fossil in a limestone quarry in Bavaria, Germany. It was found by a quarryman, who recognising it to be valuable, exchanged it with an amateur collector, Dr Karl Haberlein in settlement for a medical bill. It was named Archaeopteryx (meaning ‘ancient wing’), and announced to the world as a major find. In 1862 fate smiled on The Natural History Museum, as Haberlein, hoping to raise a dowry for his daughter, approached the British Museum offering to sell his entire fossil collection, which included the Archaeopteryx, for £750 (equivalent to £34,522 in 2002 prices). Amazingly, the museums trustees were reluctant to do the deal, but Richard Owen, the Superintendent of the Natural History Department was sufficiently tenacious, and after six months a payment deal spaced over two years was done.

(C) The Natural History Museum Archaeopteryx

Ironically, the Archaeopteryx is now considered probably the Natural History Museum’s most treasured specimen, and in scientific terms priceless. This in fact is the first time since 1988 that the original specimen has been on display at all. An exact mould was taken of it, and it is generally that that goes on display. So this is a great opportunity to take a look at the real thing at close quarters. It is very fragile, and so unlikely to be allowed to travel if the exhibition does visit other cities.

To understand why this specimen is so important it is necessary to consider it’s ramifications. Here is a fossil specimen that seems to be of a bird, and yet it has claws, a bony tail and other features that would place it more as a dinosaur. It is these seeming anomalies that mark the find out as a unique evolutionary snapshot, rather then just a rare fossil. The first person to recognise this properly was Thomas Huxley, who argued that the find was not just an ‘ancient, long-tailed bird’ as Owen thought, but rather proof that birds and dinosaurs were linked, showing the first signs of evolutionary change that would mark the beginning of a 140 year search to solve the mystery of how birds are related to meat eating dinosaurs.

This exhibition has been made possible by the unique finds in the Liaoning region of Northeast China. Only the Archaeopteryx is in fact owned by the Natural History Museum; the rest of the finds are on loan from China, which allowed them to come to the UK for conservation at the Paleontology Conservation Unit (PCU) at the Natural History Museum, which is recognised as the world leader in the field. Thus allowing the full story of the ‘DinoBirds’ to be both told and illustrated by fossil finds for the first time.

(C) The Geological Museum of China Map of China

The exhibition itself is housed in a relatively small gallery, with a purpose built structure that winds around in a kind of zigzag fashion. The aim behind the exhibition is to educate about something that is really genuinely exciting, namely that dinosaurs evolved into birds, and yet while the exhibition is good overall and the fossils are great it somehow doesn't quite gell as a package.

The presentation leaves much to be desired in explaining its central themes and how scientists have arrived at the conclusions that they have.The layout didn’t seem to make sense, and wasn’t explained properly. There was no timeline to knit together the different developments either in evolutionary or historical terms, and there is a lack of background information linking the different exhibits.

Fortunately, Dr Angela Milner from the Department of Paleontology, and one of the leading lights behind this exhibition, was on hand to give a guided tour and weave together the exciting story.

In Dr Milner’s tour she seemed to explain the thinking behind the layout of the exhibition in terms of seven steps from the beginning of a theory to its proof.

(C) Jess Wallace Protarchaepteryx 1/ The first step is showing predatory dinosaurs with longer arms and the first signs of feathers.

(C) John Sibbick Archaeopteryx Skeleton 2/ This leads on to the Archaeopteryx, part bird, and part small dinosaur.

3/ Then moving on to a discussion of the unique part of China which so carefully preserved fossils in volcanic ash during periodic volcanic eruptions between 122 and 124 million years ago.

4/ Before looking at a species of beaked birds, called Confucionis, which lived around 122 million years ago in Liaoning, and have been found fossilised in large numbers. These demonstrate the different evolutionary routes that birds have taken. Namely, that this is a true bird and not a stage on the road to becoming one, indicating the different development time scales that are at work.

(C) The Geological Museum of China Synosauropteryx (juvenile) 5/ Two fossil remains that show a fuzzy covering that is a primitive feather structure. With Dr Milner speculating that feathers evolved not as a means to flight, but rather as a means to warmth, that then subsequently developed to allow flight, perhaps as a means of escaping predators.

(C) John Sibbick Caudipteryx 6/ Then looking at two examples of a species called Caudipteryx which again shows a feather structure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(C) John Sibbick

Artists impression of the Feathered Dromaeosaur ('Fuzzy Raptor')

7/ Before finally finishing at the 'Fuzzy Raptor', which provided the crucial evidence to prove the link between dinosaurs and birds. 

Unfortunately however, there are no guided tours and no tape guides planned for the general public. The Royal Institute can manage it with their Buddha Exhibition, why not the Natural History Museum? This is a shame for an exhibition that is genuinely groundbreaking. Apparently there will be a detailed leaflet to accompany it, but this wasn’t available at the press viewing. It took scientists 140 years to properly understand the link between dinosaurs and birds, and yet the public are expected to cope with very little explanation of what were the key developments. That is truly a shame. A tie in book is in the pipeline by Dr Milner, but again this is not available until November.

(C) The Natural History Museum Lorraine Cornish works with Feathered Dromaeosaur ('Fuzzy Raptor')

A case in point is the ‘Fuzzy Raptor’ that completes the 140-year story. It was only found recently in 2001 in Liaoning, China, and is on display here for the first time. This perfectly preserved fossil shows a dinosaur skeleton complete with soft, downy body feathers that surround it. This was the final crucial evidence that was needed to confirm the relationship between dinosaurs and the birds in your garden. And yet it was understated in the exhibition, and I only grasped its importance in the scheme of things after Dr Milner’s talk. It was seemingly put in the wrong place out of sequence, and when I initially wandered the exhibition on my own I didn’t grasp its significance. Yet here is the amazing fossil record that proves that birds are in fact living dinosaurs!

Confusingly, this is not a linear evolution. Archaeopteryx is about 147 million years old, while Fuzzy Raptor is 122 millions years. Archaeopteryx was found in Germany, while Fuzzy Raptor was found in China. And while it is speculated that both have a common evolutionary ancestor, the exhibition does not do an adequate job of explaining how all the different pieces tie together. Good exhibition, but it leaves nagging doubts.

Summary

FOR: Groundbreaking exhibition exploring an interesting subject - Unique opportunity to see fossils that may not be displayed together again - Archaeopteryx on display for the first time since 1988 (and even then it was displayed for only 5 months) - Fuzzy Raptor and other fossils have been conserved wonderfully by the PCU - Fascinating insight into the evolution of birds - Very intimate exhibition and you can really get close to the exhibits - Some nice use of video imagery to show birdflight - Good value if you also consider that the rest of the museum is free.

AGAINST: More background information needed - Why no tape guide or guided tours? - The exhibition seemed to have a logic to it after I was talked around it, but not before - Lacked a clear timeline throughout the exhibition both in evolutionary and historical terms - Information was fossil specific and didn't seem tied to an overall story of developments - Not always a logical flow to the exhibition, and no real feel of structure or climax as you reach the end - Virtually no information given about the Fuzzy Raptor - No foreign language information provided.

Conclusion

This is undoubtedly an exhibition worth visiting. The subject matter is fascinating and the fossils are magnificent. But be prepared to be bemused. Explanations are thin on the ground, the layout of the exhibition is confusing without guidance, and there is no clear historical or evolutionary timescale's to assist in placing the material in context.

All this sounds unduly critical in a way, because I did enjoy the exhibition. However I did feel it fell short on educating about a subject where such a fine collection of fossils was at hand to illustrate the developments.

Other Interesting Links

Holding Hands with Dinosaurs - They pull huge film and television audiences, but just why are we so fascinated by dinosaurs? This article investigates.
Finding Fossils from Space - Fossil hunting takes a step into the future with the use of satellite data to locate new fossil beds in the depths of the Gobi desert.
Dinosaurs and Birds - The debate continues...
Dinosaurs and Birds - Article at the ABC web site.
More pictures of the fossil finds from China on the National Geographic Web site.
The Dino Bird Link...
Argument from a 'non-believer' as of 1998