Donated fossils add to museum's expansion plans

An anonymous local donor has made it possible for the Missouri Institute of Natural Science to double the size of its free museum near Riverbluff Cave by the end of the year.

The expansion will provide room for hundreds of fossils, including the famous "Henry" triceratops dinosaur. The donor's generosity and an ongoing fund raising campaign will also pay for an observatory to be built atop the building where visitors can view the stars and planets.

And to help fill the space, a South Dakota fossil collector last week donated two truckloads of prehistoric fish, crocodiles, mammal skulls and teeth — even fossilized pine cones that dinosaurs ate more than 40 million years ago.

"A friend of mine who I helped dig up T-rex, triceratops and hadrosaur fossils called me up and said he was getting out of the fossil business," said Matt Forir, executive director of the museum. "I knew what he had, but there are a few surprises."

Forir and several volunteers drove to South Dakota last week to pick up the fossils and bring them back to the museum, where they are now laid out on tables for processing and analysis.

A major prize: The fossil remains of a toothy 15-foot xiphactinus fish dug up in Kansas chalk beds that has bones of another fish — its last meal — inside.

"This was a real monster with big jaws and huge teeth," Forir said, as volunteers carefully worked to expose more of the fish's fossil bones. "It was one of the top predators in the shallow sea that divided North America. Just a four hour drive to the Missouri boot heel you would have seen these in the ocean 40 million years ago."

Forir hefted the skull of an ancient camel still embedded in rock, and the jaws of a prehistoric rhinocerous, both from South Dakota. Another box contains the skull and impressive jaws of a saber-toothed cat.

"A lot of these are from the Oligocene era at a time when dinosaurs were dying out and the age of mammals was rising," Forir said. "We want to tell the story of these fossils here at the Missouri Institute of Natural Science, to inspire interest in science."

The donated collection also includes some fossils from elsewhere in the world, including a two-foot long portion of an ocean-going mosasaur jaw from Morocco. It's studded with 2-inch bone-crushing teeth.

On another table lies a perfectly preserved 3-foot skull of a crocodile-like gavial, its rows of needle-sharp teeth virtually identical to modern-day gavials from India and southeast Asia.

All will eventually be on display at the expanded museum. Forir said visitors will be able to touch some of the fossil bones.

Bob Lawrie, a museum board member, said the expansion will cost about $175,000 and will feature a lower-level bone preparation room where visitors can see fossils being readied for display. The building will also have an observation deck where visitors can enjoy snacks, a gift shop with fossils for sale, and many exhibits, including some tied to the famous ice-age Riverbluff Cave that was discovered nearby in 2001.

Lawrie said the donor is covering a significant portion of the expansion, but the museum still needs donations from the public. The goal is to have the expansion built and opened by late fall.

Part of the fundraising effort includes the sale of $50 inscribed bricks that will form the pedestal on which Henry — the triceratops fossil that Forir and numerous volunteers dug up in Wyoming — will be displayed.

The museum also can be rented for weddings, birthdays and special events and there will be a "Dino Camp" for youngsters during the summer.

Forir said the nonprofit museum welcomes donations through its Pay-Pal account online.

"Briefcases full of cash are OK too," he quipped.