World's First Dinosaur Skeleton
Hoag Levins (levins@tigger.jvnc.net)
Mon, 12 Jun 1995 12:05:00 GMT
WORLD'S FIRST DINOSAUR SKELETON--NEW WEB SITE
An extensive new World-Wide Web Site takes users down into the 30-foot
ravine where the world's first nearly-complete dinosaur skeleton was found
in 1858.
The World-Wide Web Site is located at:
http://tigger.jvnc.net/~levins/hadrosaurus.html
The excavation site, located in the quaintly scenic town of Haddonfield, New
Jersey, is the spot where Hadrosaurus Foulkii was found and presented to the
world by Dr. Joseph Leidy of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia
as proof that dinosaurs really did exist. The actual place where the bones
were found has changed little in 137 years: a heavily wooded ravine with a
stream cutting through thick layers of bluish-gray marl where Cretaceous
seashells and other fossils can still be found.
Hadrosaurus Foulkii, the first mounted dinosaur skeleton ever put on
display, was a major public attraction in the late 1800s. Then, the animal
and its Haddonfield excavation site faded from view--and the general
interest--in the wake of more stunning dinosaur finds throughout the world.
However, a recent series of events has focused new attention on the historic
significance of this, the discovery site of the world's first dinosaur skeleton.
In 1991, the Legislature of New Jersey passed, and the governor signed into
law, a bill declaring Hadrosaurus Foulkii the state's official fossil.
In October 1994, the Haddonfield site was declared a National Historic
Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Parks Service.
The Borough of Haddonfield, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences and
the Department of the Interior are collectively planning a ceremony at the
site on October 26, 1995 to celebrate the new Landmark status.
The World-Wide Web Hadrosaurus Foulkii site is a serious reference feature
with twelve illustrated sections. Professionally written and photographed,
it is an original work designed as a total background orientation for news
reporters and others involved in the upcoming October events.
-----------------------
Hoag Levins
levins@tigger.jvnc.net
-----------------------
|