A LIFE-SIZE model of a dinosaur bird was unveiled at the University of Reading’s museum last week.
Visitors of the Cole Museum, in the health and life sciences builing, on Whiteknights campus, will be able to see an accurate recreation of an Archaeopteryx.
First discovered in Germany, an Archaeopteryx, meaning ancient feather, lived around 150 million years ago measuring at 50cm long.
The model displays updated features of the reptile including its scaley feet and feathered body.
These are based on the latest fossil evidence by its creator Bob Nicholls.
And from Mr Nicholls research, he has included shaggier, black flight feathers on the back of the legs and feet, and striking yellow colouring around its eyes.
Professor Amanda Callaghan, curator of the Cole Museum at the University of Reading, can’t wait to unleash the model to their visitors.
“We are grateful to world-class paleoartist Bob for the time and research that has gone into creating one of the most up-to-date models of this dinosaur species ever seen,” she said.
The artist chose to add orange and yellow colouring around the snout and eyes, while the rest of the creature’s body is coloured brown and white, to blend in with the shrubby desert islands and salt-water lagoons from prehistoric Europe.
The museum is set to reopen its doors to the public before the end of the year.
“Whether or not you know this winged beast from its appearances in well-known films, this is an Archaeopteryx as you’ve never seen it before,” she said.
The unveiling this week was accompanied by a public lecture by Mr Nicholls about how Archaeopteryx lived and how he created the updated model.
