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BY ARIEL MARTINO

In print | Published February 26, 2009 — Updated February 28, 2009 21:53

A current exhibit at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia displays Hadro-saurus foulkii, the first dinosaur ever displayed to the public. Joseph Leidy, a Swarthmore professor of natural history from 1871 to 1885, played a central role in the studying and naming of this historic discovery. William Parker Foulke, the man who discovered the initial fossils of H. foulkii, and Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, the artist who mounted the dinosaur for public display, are also showcased in the exhibit.

In his time at Swarthmore Leidy taught a course on natural history and began a relatively modest collection of specimens that was eventually destroyed in the fire in Parrish Hall in 1881. “His lectures were illustrated by drawings and crayon sketches on the blackboard, and, as far as is possible, by natural specimens from our museum,” Anne Matthews Rawson ’50 wrote in her 1989 report on the history of biology.

The story of Hadrosaurus began before that time though. In 1858 in Haddonfield, New Jersey, when Foulke was a lawyer in Philadelphia and a recreational fossil hunter, he caught wind of some gargantuan and unidentifiable bones that had been unearthed at a neighbor’s farm. He got permission to continue digging and discovered a host of mysterious fossils. Foulke brought the fossils to Leidy in Philadelphia, who was a professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania at the time. Leidy studied the fossils only to discover that they were the most complete dinosaur skeleton of the time.

Nearly ten years later, Hawkins, an English scientific illustrator and sculptor, offered to create a display of the dinosaur. The mounted skeleton stood about 16 feet high but little was known about dinosaur physiology at the time. As a result, the skeleton stood upright with its tail on the ground, resembling a reptilian kangaroo (it was, in fact, nicknamed the kangaroo lizard). And though Foulke had unearthed a relatively intact set of fossils, there was little fossil evidence about the head. In order to complete the skeleton, Hawkins deduced that because Hadrosaurus’s teeth resembled an iguana’s, he could model the skull after an iguana.

The full skeleton was put on display in November of 1868 and public reaction was mixed. “People were scared, they were impressed, they were awed,” Barbara Ceiga, Director of Exhibits at the Academy, said. “Who could believe that anything like that had ever lived?”

In 2007, Ceiga, then new to the museum, began investigating Hadrosaurus and the three men who brought it to public display for a possible showcase on the 150th anniversary. “It was one of those stories that just got bigger as we did more research. We originally intended for it to be maybe an item in the newsletter, but we quickly realized that it had to be an exhibit,” Ceiga said.

“The story of Hadrosaurus is great. It shows that great things happen when you have a confluence of people,” said Dr. Ted Daeschler, Associate Curator in the Vertebrate Paleontology Department at the Academy. “Leidy alone couldn’t have created the skeleton.”

The exhibit was meant to showcase both Hadrosaurus and the history behind its discovery, examination and display. “The exhibit has a Victorian feel, which was very deliberate,” Daeschler said. “There is the sense that when it was put up, it was a wonder of the world, it was inconceivable that there was this giant reptilian animal. It was outside the range of what people believed possible, it was awe inspiring.”

There are several historical set pieces in the exhibit, including a replica of Leidy’s study. In the study are some of his personal belongings, such as his microscope, field notes, specimens and a diorama of the mar pit in which Foulke discovered the original fossils, some of which are on display in the study. There is also a model of Hawkins’ studio that features tools that he used in the mounting of Hadrosaurus.

The exhibit allowed the Academy to delve into its extensive stores of historical items that are not always out for public viewing. “We are extremely proud of the history represented by the research collection,” Daeschler said. “There are remarkable materials in what we call the front of the house. But there are even more in the back of the house, things that are traditionally not out in the public arena.”

Daeschler also stressed that, because the Academy is the first location where the skeleton was displayed, the exhibit has strong ties to the Academy itself. As a result, many of the materials needed for the exhibit were readily available and the Academy can claim an ownership over the exhibit that would not be possible if fossils had been borrowed from other institutions. “When we started to look for objects to populate the exhibit, so much of the stuff is under our own roof. The Academy has a deep history and as much as the exhibits keep up with the time, when it comes to having real, historical objects, the Academy is the place to be,” Deaschler said.

The fossils also have ties to the area, as both Foulke and Leidy lived in Philadelphia. Leidy, in addition to his time at Swarthmore, had an enormous presence at the Academy of Natural Sciences and at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. “It’s totally a Philadelphia story, Foulke and Leidy were born and bred in Philadelphia, the skeleton is from New Jersey, right across the river. It should bring a sense of pride. The skeleton belongs to the city of Philadelphia, it’s Philadel-phia’s dinosaur,” Ceiga said.

The actual mounted Hadro-saurus, however, draws most of the viewers’ initial attention as they enter the exhibit. “People are just drawn to the skeleton, it’s the centerpiece,” Martha Rutherford, a volunteer in the exhibit, said. “Everyone responds really well to the history and the rest of the exhibit once they take the time to look through it. But that dinosaur is really hard to ignore when you first walk in.”

And though our knowledge of paleontology has changed a great deal over the past 150 years and images of dinosaurs are as common as almost any other animal, there is still a great deal of awe inspired by the present-day mount.

“We’ve learned a lot about dinosaurs since then. The analogy to a kangaroo doesn’t work at all. The posture was very different, the body was balanced over hind legs. The mount that’s up there reflects 140 years of paleontology,” Daeschler said.

Leidy’s was at the very beginning of the paleontological movement. And though his work was important, he is an often forgotten figure.

Similarly, Hadrosaurus is an often-forgotten dinosaur due to its lack of novelty next to the ferocious Tyranno-saurus rex or the wily Velociraptor. “Hadrosaurus foulkii might not be the hugest, or the scariest, or the most impressive, but it was the first. It’s hard for us to imagine going to a natural history museum and not seeing a dinosaur on display,” Ceiga said.

The history of Hadrosaurus is wrapped up in creating a successful exhibit for the modern audience.
“I think this exhibit shows that dinosaurs aren’t just for kids. We’ve received so many letters from adults saying how much they enjoyed this exhibit and the history behind it,” Ceiga said.

The Hadrosaurus foulkii exhibit will be on display until May 3rd, and there is an additional online exhibit about the life, career and discoveries of Joseph Leidy accessible through the Academy website.

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