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Zelda and Zara: Norway’s First Complete Dinosaur Skeletons on Display

By 12. september 2024Visitorinfo

Last year, the Sparebankstiftelsen DNB purchased the large dinosaur skeleton named Zelda, which will be part of the museum’s geological exhibitions. The smaller skeleton was owned by a private collector who decided to sell it earlier this year. Sparebankstiftelsen DNB then chose to buy both. The small skeleton has been nicknamed Zara.

Zara & Zelda: Illustrasjon: Esther van Hulsen
  • «I knew that Zelda was found together with a smaller skeleton of the same species, but I didn’t think it would be possible for us to exhibit both,” says Jørn H. Hurum, professor of paleontology at the Natural History Museum..

They lived 74 million years ago

During the excavation of the dinosaur Zelda, it was discovered that a smaller individual was lying with the large skeleton. It turned out to be a young dinosaur of the same species. This was an unusual find. Both are of the duck-billed dinosaur Hypacrosaurus. The species is already known to have nesting colonies in several places in North America and likely had parental care, as small young have been found in nests with wear on their teeth. This suggests that they were fed in the nest after hatching.

The dinosaurs now coming to the Natural History Museum lived in North America 74 million years ago, at the end of the dinosaur era. Hypacrosaurus was a large herbivore. It was a type of hadrosaur that walked on both two and four legs. The dinosaur group got its name from the broad beak they had as a snout. Determining the sex of dinosaur skeletons is difficult, if not impossible, so this time we have chosen to give them female names to balance against the two other dinosaur skeletons we have in the same exhibition that have male names.

Reuniting the two skeletons and telling the story of dinosaur children, nests, herds, and growth will give the exhibition an even greater boost than Zelda alone. The presentation will be able to focus even more on questions we often get from visiting children, such as:

  • Did dinosaurs take care of their children?
  • How did dinosaurs have children?
  • Did dinosaurs live in herds?
  • What did dinosaur children look like?
  • Did dinosaurs gather on “bird cliffs,” like their bird relatives today, to make nests?
  • How did dinosaurs grow?
  • How small were dinosaurs when they hatched?

There are clear differences between Zelda and Zara, especially noticeable in the head, where the adult Zelda has a crest, while this is not seen in the young one.

The dinosaurs are owned by Sparebankstiftelsen DNB but will be permanently displayed at the Natural History Museum.

Saturday, September 21st, the duck-billed dinosaurs Zelda and Zara will be in place at the Natural History Museum. We are excited!

Jan Robert Johnsen

Daglig leder, Grünerløkka kultur- og næringsforening