For those of you who have never visited the museum, you are probably wondering who the hell is Dippy? Well, Dippy is a cast of a skeleton of a Diplodocus. Dippy first went on display in 1979 although it was given to the museum on 1905. So it has been greeting visitors for over 30 years.
The museum has been open to the public since 1881, so was there anything else before Dippy?
The first big attraction in the main hall was a skeleton of a Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) this stayed in the hall form the 1890's till 1907 when it was replaced by Geogre the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) who remained there for 70 years until it was finally replaced by Dippy.
The first big attraction in the main hall was a skeleton of a Sperm Whale (Physeter macrocephalus) this stayed in the hall form the 1890's till 1907 when it was replaced by Geogre the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) who remained there for 70 years until it was finally replaced by Dippy.
The display change is big news, as the specimen of the blue whale won't be a cast but it a real specimen which currently on display in the mammal hall, above a replica of the actual animal. So the plan is to remove the skeleton and scan all the bones in so that it will be in a digital skeleton, which could be used to print 3D bones in the future for research. It will then be hung from the ceiling in the main hall in a diving position to greet visitors to the building.
What does this mean for Dippy?
Well there are plans to put Dippy into another exhibition or maybe put her on display on the outside of the building. There could also be a possibility of Dippy going on tour to other musuems around the country.
Changing the display to the skeleton of the Blue Whale should attract many visitors plus it put emphasize on the real skeletons that the museum have and the research that they undertake using specimens that are within those walls. I think this is a great step for the msuem to take and I can't wait to see in unveiled. But don't worry, if you want to see Dippy, she will still be there till 2017. If you want to plan a visit then go to the Natural History Musuem site (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/).
Thanks for reading =)
