Rolf Schmidt Collection Manager Invertebrate Palaeontology at Museums Victoria with right femur bone of Melbourne Museum Triceratops. Photo by Eugene Hyland

The world’s most complete triceratops has landed at Melbourne Museum

Melbourne Museum has secured a groundbreaking paleontological discovery, the world's most complete and preserved Triceratops fossil.

The Triceratops fossil has been acquired by Melbourne Museum after a long journey from its site of the discovery in Montana, USA, and will remain on display for the Melbourne public forever, with its grand reveal to be staged in a monumental two-level exhibit that opens on March 12.

Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs promises to be an immersive experience in which Melburnians will walk through the environments that the great horned dinosaur roamed, meet the creatures it lived alongside, and discover its eventual destiny.

Triceratops skeleton

• 266 bones have been recovered, making up 85% of the skeleton.
• The skull of the fossil is 99% complete and weighs 261kg.
• Horridus has an enormous frill and three fearsome horns, the fossil weighs more than 1000kg, is 6- 7 metres long and stands around 2 metres tall.

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“We are thrilled to have this internationally significant Triceratops on permanent display in Melbourne Museum,” Museums Victoria CEO Lynley Crosswell said.

“This is the most complete and finely preserved Triceratops fossil ever discovered and visitors will come from around the world to see Horridus, whose forever home is right here in Melbourne. Grounded in leading edge science and connecting the long extinct world of Horridus with our world today, this exhibition will enthral and inspire all who experience it.”

 

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Named after  Triceratops horridus,  the species  to which  Horridus  belongs, this Triceratops roamed the Earth during the late Cretaceous, around 66-68 million years ago.

It was discovered in 2014 on private property in Montana, USA and in July 2021, was carefully packed into eight crates – some as big as a car and weighing up to 50kg – and couriered from Canada to Melbourne in July 2021.

The new Triceratops is the most complete dinosaur fossil ever acquired by an Australian museum.