Meet Horridus: World’s most complete triceratops fossil unveiled at Melbourne Museum

As Melbourne Museum opens its incredible new dinosaur exhibit, experts reveal what it took to assemble the world’s most complete triceratops fossil.

It’s no oil painting, but Museum Victoria’s 67-million-year-old triceratops has been dubbed the Mona Lisa of the fossil world.

The dinosaur, named Horridus, the world’s most complete and finely preserved triceratops, has been unveiled at Melbourne Museum.

It comprises 266 bones, measures 7m long from tip to tail, stands at more than 2m tall, and weighs a tonne.

“Horridus is a triceratops without parallel on the planet,” Melbourne palaeontologist Dr Erich Fitzgerald said.

“You cannot manufacture this. Horridus is the real deal.”

Dinosaur enthusiasts Anika, 9 and Max, 9, get a first look at Melbourne Museum’s new triceratops, Horridus. The 67 million-year-old fossil is the most complete dinosaur skeleton ever found. Picture: Jason Edwards

The fossil was found in Montana in the US, acquired by Museums Victoria for $3 million, and shipped to Melbourne in eight crates — some as big as a car — last year.

An expert team of palaeontologists assembled the dinosaur over an eight-month period.

“This is the Mona Lisa of fossils, and it’s right here in Melbourne,” Victoria’s Creative Industries Minister Danny Pearson said.

“It will be an absolute drawcard for generations to come.”

Dr Fitzgerald said Horridus would put Melbourne “on the map as a must-see museum for dinosaur fossils”.

The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, is widely considered to be the most famous painting in the art world.

Find out more about the significance of Horridus in the video above. For more, tune into the museum’s Triceratops TV.

Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs opens at Melbourne Museum on Saturday, March 12.