A new dinosaur at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels
The Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels is home to a new arrival straight from Switzerland. We present Ben the dinosaur, a 210 million year-old Plateosaurus. A dinosaur who, despite the years, is faithful to his past image.
Ben the Plateosaurus, an ancestor of the long-necks, honours Belgium with his presence. For the first time in 100 years, the Museum of Natural Sciences will exhibit a new, original dinosaur fossil. With a surface area of over 3,000m2 and dozens of specimens, the Dinosaur Gallery is the largest room in Europe devoted entirely to dinosaurs, their discovery, lives and evolution.
Ben was discovered in Switzerland, which is home to a bonebed of several Plateosaurus skeletons. Sauriermuseum Frick in Switzerland decided to give Ben to the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels to be cleaned and prepared in a specialist laboratory. This is a permanent loan, since Switzerland is overflowing with the number of fossils found in a quarry. This dinosaur measures 5 metres in length and arrived in 4 large wooden crates containing 200 separate bones. The 200 pieces of this giant puzzle must now be reassembled.
However, exhibiting this fabulous discovery proves problematic. The Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels must raise 25,000 euros to be able to exhibit Ben the Plateosaurus, which is why they have launched their first crowdfunding campaign on the Brussels platform www.growfunding.be. If everything turns out for the best, you'll have to wait until autumn 2017 to admire this new dinosaur in the Museum's Gallery.