The museum’s specimens will be far more lifelike than this © davidd
Vagabondish is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Read our disclosure.
The winning contestant didn’t even have to sing once, which is great because it has been dead for many, many millennia. Mercifully for us, the new idol will not be heading out on tour and there are no contractual obligation albums in the offing.
Canada’s Museum of Nature has named the Ankylosaur as its “Dinosaur Idol.” Museum visitors voted for one of five dinosaurs, with the competition deciding which specimen will be the next one to get the attention of conservators and eventually be put on display.
The five specimens were collected from the area around Red Deer, Alberta starting in 1919, and were encased in plaster before being transported to Ottawa. All of them have remained in plaster for the better part of a century now. The process of removing the plaster and preparing the specimens is incredibly delicate and time consuming, which is why these dinosaurs have never been prepared for display.
The Ankylosaur specimen, which was nicknamed “Canadian Club” due to its vicious armour-plated tail, is expected to take about a year to prepare before it goes on display at the museum.
Find out more about this on CBC.ca