‘Truly unique find': part of Swindon Stegosaur returns to Wiltshire town
But 150 years on, a little piece of the Swindon Stegosaur has been returned to the Wiltshire town, after two fossil hunters spotted one of its vertebrae for sale on an online marketplace site.
They alerted the council and it has gone on display at the local authority-run museum in Swindon, a reminder of the role the town played in one of the UK's most remarkable dinosaur discoveries.
The fossil remains were found in the clay pits of Swindon Brick and Tile Company in 1874, a site in Fleming Way now occupied by shops and a gardens.
They were sent off to Sir Richard Owen, then director of the Natural History Museum, for identification, and became the first stegosaur ever named and described by scientists.
The remains – the hip, a back leg and parts of the backbone of the creature – are considered a 'roadmap' for understanding what stegosaur looked like, and can still be seen in London.
Sally and Neville Hollingworth spotted the vertebra being offered for sale.
The pair said: 'We realised its importance straight away. When the Swindon Stegosaur was collected in the 19th century some of the original material ended up in private collections and we recognised that the vertebra offered for sale had come from the original site.
'We're delighted Museum & Art Swindon has put this truly unique find from the town on display and, hopefully, this will help raise awareness about the town's Jurassic past.'
Marina Strinkovsky, Swindon borough council's cabinet member for placemaking and planning, said: 'Swindon was really important in the history of palaeontology and loads of important fossil hunters lived here or visited Swindon in the late 19th century to look for specimens.
'The stegosaur ignites the imagination of Swindonians of all ages, and it's fantastic that a piece of it is home.'
The vertebra can be seen now at the museum's Swindon Rocks gallery.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Dead scientist's 'time capsule' in vault key to resurrecting Aussie species
A sprawling collection of 3,500 specimens held in the vault of an Australian museum could provide an insight into a natural world that was largely destroyed last century, and help resurrect species that have disappeared from the area. Each tiny glass vial contains a trapdoor spider, and all of them were collected by one woman. Many of the species are now locally extinct from the sprawling Wheatbelt region that surrounds Perth. Spider expert Dr Mark Harvey, who is leading a project at Western Australian Museum, to digitise the collection, describes it as a 'time capsule'. By understanding which spiders were present at any given location, scientists are able to form a picture of what the wider ecosystem once looked like before it was replaced with crops of wheat and canola, or grassy paddocks for raising livestock. For instance, the shield-backed trapdoor spider (Idiosoma nigrum) preferred to live in woodland that was fairly flat and not very dense. And this same specific type of landscape would have also been home to many of the small mammals that are now locally extinct. When the shield-backed trapdoor spider was collected in the 1950s, the species was considered abundant on the Wheatbelt. Today it survives in a few small fragments of bushland that were retained in the region. 'Once they've been lost from an area, because the native habitat is a patchwork, and no longer connected, they can't move from one place to another to recolonise,' Harvey said. 'Trapdoor spiders are very bad at that at the best of times, because the spiderlings come out of the mother's burrow, they might only walk one, two or three metres before they start their own. And that's where they spend the rest of their lives — so they don't disperse like other animals do.' Related: Major weather event prompts behavioural change in Wheatbelt wildlife A healthy ecosystem in southwest Australia has 10 to 15 species of trapdoor spider, so when researchers return to an area and only find two or three, they know localised extinctions have occurred and the landscape has been degraded. Woman watched as entire region transformed The spiders were all collected by Dr Barbara York Main, known as Australia's spider lady, who died in 2019. She was born in 1929 and grew up in the Wheatbelt, giving her a front seat to watch the dramatic change that occurred over her lifetime. The collection contains a number of species that are yet to be officially described or named by scientists. By digitising her collection, the data will become available to scientists around the world, and the general public through the Atlas of Living Australia and WA's Dandjoo statewide biodiversity data platform. In 2025, the impact of habitat destruction on native species is well-known, but several species of trapdoor spider are barely surviving the ongoing threats to their range. The Euoplos dignitas in Queensland's Brigalow Belt was only identified in 2023, and it's already endangered. It survives in a heavily fragmented 1850 square kilometre area that successive state governments have allowed to be cleared for cattle grazing and crops. More incredible museum stories Decades-old Aussie museum display discovered to be entirely new species New Aussie predatory species discovered inside museum package Discovery on museum shelves hints at presence of 250 unknown scorpion species Spider DNA could help resurrect species Harvey is hopeful that in the future, as DNA technology improves, it could be possible to resurrect trapdoor spiders using genetic material from the collection. But even if de-extinction is not possible, it might be possible to help fragmented populations of spiders, that have become genetically compromised as their numbers have shrunk. 'We could use those specimens taken from when they were fairly widespread species across the landscape, look at its genetic variation, and then compare it to the modern examples we might find now. When the populations have shrunk in size, and we can see what sort of genetic variation is lacking,' Harvey said. 'We might be able to do something about it with gene splicing.' Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Rare Ceratosaurus fossil sells for $30.5 million
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. A Ceratosaurus fossil that is one of only four known to exist has sold for $30.5 million at auction. The rare dinosaur fossil is 'one of the finest and most complete examples of its kind ever found,' auction house Sotheby's said in a statement published Wednesday. The specimen, which is the only juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil of the four, sold for multiples of its $4 million-$6 million estimate at Sotheby's New York following a six-minute battle between six different bidders. Ceratosaurus nasicornis was a meat-eating predator with a nasal horn, long teeth and bony armor that ran down its back and tail. Standing six feet, three inches (1.9 meters) tall and approximately 10 feet, eight inches (3.25 meters) long, this juvenile fossil is made up of 139 bone elements, of which 57 make up 'a superb virtually complete skull,' according to Sotheby's. It was found in 1996 at Bone Cabin Quarry in Wyoming and dates from the late Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago. The fossil was displayed at the Museum of Ancient Life in Thanksgiving Point, Utah, from 2000 to 2024 and has not been studied or described formally in a scientific journal, Sotheby's said. 'The buyer of the Ceratosaurus intends to loan it to an institution, as is fitting for a specimen of this rarity and importance,' the auction house said. In the same sale, a meteorite that is the largest known piece of Mars on Earth sold for $5.3 million. 'These stellar results underscore a deep and enduring fascination and respect for the natural world — from the farthest reaches of space to the ancient depths of the Earth. What draws collectors is more than just a passion for science; it's a deep-seated curiosity about the forces that have shaped our planet and beyond,' Cassandra Hatton, global head of science and natural history at Sotheby's, said in the statement. Mark Westgarth, a professor of history of the art market at the University of Leeds, England, told CNN that the sale 'is part of a recent resurgence of interest in fossils and natural history.' For example, Sotheby's also sold the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction, Apex the Stegosaur, which fetched $44.6 million in July 2024. 'At the top end of the market … seems to be about an increasing desire for 'distinction,'' said Westgarth. 'These dinosaur specimens also have a particular aesthetic — they are sculptural and awe inspiring.' For Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at Scotland's University of Edinburgh, these kinds of price tags are shocking. 'Who has that kind of money to spend on a dinosaur? Certainly not any museums or educational institutions,' he told CNN. 'While I'm pleased that the buyer might loan the skeleton to a museum to be put on display, at this point it is just a vague suggestion. The buyer is still anonymous,' Brusatte added. 'My fear is that this skeleton will disappear into the ether, into the mansion of an oligarch or a bank vault to accumulate value as just another investment in the portfolio of a hedge fund, and not see the light of day until it's auctioned again, or maybe never at all,' he said. 'Bottom line, a world where dinosaur skeletons can fetch tens of millions of dollars within a few minutes at auctions is not a world where dinosaurs will long be accessible to educate and inspire everyone,' Brusatte added. However, Westgarth argues that there is a 'symbiotic' relationship between the market and wider research interests. He cites the example of Mary Anning, who discovered fossils on England's south coast in the early 19th century and went on to open a successful fossil shop. 'Here the market for fossils acted as a catalyst for research in public institutions in the 19th century, inculcating increasing attention and public interest and acting as a catalyst for increased research activity on dinosaur fossils,' said Westgarth, who argues that the fact that the buyer of the Ceratosaurus fossil 'has suggested that they will loan it to an institution only adds to its potential for future research activity.' Solve the daily Crossword
CNN
6 days ago
- CNN
Rare ceratosaur fossil sells for $30.5 million
A Ceratosaurus fossil that is one of only four known to exist has sold for $30.5 million at auction. The rare dinosaur fossil is 'one of the finest and most complete examples of its kind ever found,' auction house Sotheby's said in a statement published Wednesday. The specimen, which is the only juvenile Ceratosaurus fossil of the four, sold for multiples of its $4 million-$6 million estimate at Sotheby's New York following a six-minute battle between six different bidders. Ceratosaurus nasicornis was a meat-eating predator with a nasal horn, long teeth and bony armor that ran down its back and tail. Standing six feet, three inches (1.9 meters) tall and approximately 10 feet, eight inches (3.25 meters) long, this juvenile fossil is made up of 139 bone elements, of which 57 make up 'a superb virtually complete skull,' according to Sotheby's. It was found in 1996 at Bone Cabin Quarry in Wyoming and dates from the late Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago. The fossil was displayed at the Museum of Ancient Life in Thanksgiving Point, Utah, from 2000 to 2024 and has not been studied or described formally in a scientific journal, Sotheby's said. 'The buyer of the Ceratosaurus intends to loan it to an institution, as is fitting for a specimen of this rarity and importance,' the auction house said. In the same sale, a meteorite that is the largest known piece of Mars on Earth sold for $5.3 million. 'These stellar results underscore a deep and enduring fascination and respect for the natural world — from the farthest reaches of space to the ancient depths of the Earth. What draws collectors is more than just a passion for science; it's a deep-seated curiosity about the forces that have shaped our planet and beyond,' Cassandra Hatton, global head of science and natural history at Sotheby's, said in the statement. Mark Westgarth, a professor of history of the art market at the University of Leeds, England, told CNN that the sale 'is part of a recent resurgence of interest in fossils and natural history.' For example, Sotheby's also sold the most valuable fossil ever sold at auction, Apex the Stegosaur, which fetched $44.6 million in July 2024. 'At the top end of the market … seems to be about an increasing desire for 'distinction,'' said Westgarth. 'These dinosaur specimens also have a particular aesthetic — they are sculptural and awe inspiring.' For Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at Scotland's University of Edinburgh, these kinds of price tags are shocking. A massive and nearly complete fossilized stegosaurus skeleton nicknamed 'Apex' sold for a record-setting $44.6M at auction on video Towering stegosaurus skeleton sells for record-setting $44.6M at auction 'Who has that kind of money to spend on a dinosaur? Certainly not any museums or educational institutions,' he told CNN. 'While I'm pleased that the buyer might loan the skeleton to a museum to be put on display, at this point it is just a vague suggestion. The buyer is still anonymous,' Brusatte added. 'My fear is that this skeleton will disappear into the ether, into the mansion of an oligarch or a bank vault to accumulate value as just another investment in the portfolio of a hedge fund, and not see the light of day until it's auctioned again, or maybe never at all,' he said. 'Bottom line, a world where dinosaur skeletons can fetch tens of millions of dollars within a few minutes at auctions is not a world where dinosaurs will long be accessible to educate and inspire everyone,' Brusatte added. However, Westgarth argues that there is a 'symbiotic' relationship between the market and wider research interests. He cites the example of Mary Anning, who discovered fossils on England's south coast in the early 19th century and went on to open a successful fossil shop. 'Here the market for fossils acted as a catalyst for research in public institutions in the 19th century, inculcating increasing attention and public interest and acting as a catalyst for increased research activity on dinosaur fossils,' said Westgarth, who argues that the fact that the buyer of the Ceratosaurus fossil 'has suggested that they will loan it to an institution only adds to its potential for future research activity.'
