News Detail
The Conservation of the Mosasaur Skull
Last spring, Episcopal received a fossilized mosasaur skull, given to the school by Wayne Holman ’53. Almost 65 million years ago, the mosasaur was one of the largest marine lizards to roam the Cretaceous seas. Within a span of six million years, this creature evolved from a three-foot long, land-based lizard, similar to a Komodo dragon, to the sixty foot long mosasaur with the potential to weigh up to fifteen tons. Often called the Tyrannosaurus Rex of the sea, mosasaurs were actually “much bigger than T. Rex,” writes University of Alberta biologist Michael Caldwell. “They really were sea monsters.”
Not only was the mosasaur big, it was voracious, consuming everything from seabirds, fish, sharks, shelled creatures, like nautili and ammonites, and even other mosasaurs. The double-hinged jaw made the most daunting creatures easy prey for the mosasaur and the warm, shallow seas provided the abundant food source required by the mosasaur. Its only predators were sharks and other mosasaurs.
Not only was the mosasaur big, it was voracious, consuming everything from seabirds, fish, sharks, shelled creatures, like nautili and ammonites, and even other mosasaurs. The double-hinged jaw made the most daunting creatures easy prey for the mosasaur and the warm, shallow seas provided the abundant food source required by the mosasaur. Its only predators were sharks and other mosasaurs.
Like all powerful large lizards of their time, the mosasaur went extinct when the famous meteor hit the Earth and brought an end to the Cretaceous period. Because the Earth was mostly covered by water durig this era, remains of mosasaurs have been found all over the world, from Russia to New Zealand, and from France to the United States.
While a living mosasaur was almost indomitable, Episcopal’s fossilized mosasaur, was in fragile condition requiring treatment by an artifact conservator who specializes in the care of archeological objects. This fall, Episcopal reached out to Todd McLain of the museum services company, ELY, Inc., and conservator Kim Cobb to stabilize and treat this artifact.
Todd and Kim began their work by unpacking the four large shipping crates containing the mosasaur skull and documentating its condition. Everything from breaks to previous repairs was noted. The next step was to prepare a treatment plan, which included surface cleaning, repairing breaks, reducing and painting areas of plaster to better integrate with surrounding bone, and making adjustments to the mount to better support and display the object. An exhibit case was fabricated to display the mosasaur skull in the Baker Science Center.
With the team in place to treat this artifact, the School recognized an opportunity to introduce our students, not only to the mosasaur, but also to the professional field of artifact conservation and museum services. Todd and Kim presented to Kim Olsen’s Honors Chemistry class and Jim Chesson’s geology class, describing the object, its condition, and treatments they were applying. They extended the conversation beyond this specific object to encompass the wide variety of artifacts they have worked with in their professional careers. Todd and Kim also described the educational background required to work in this field and shared with our students how they entered their professions.
The mosasaur skull, now fully intact and on display, is an incredibly unique artifact for the School to own and a prehistoric part of history to share with the entire EHS community.
