It’s taken 67 million years but a triceratops is coming to Carlton

The most complete and finely preserved triceratops ever found is moving into Melbourne Museum.

Museums Victoria’s senior curator of palaeontology Dr Erich Fitzgerald with a section of the triceratops fossil. Picture: Supplied

Old bones may have to make way for older bones next year as a 67-million-year-old triceratops fossil moves into Melbourne Museum at Carlton.

The one-tonne skeleton is 87 per cent complete, making it the most complete and most finely preserved triceratops ever found, including skin impressions and tendons, and the complete skull and spine.

The skeleton is yet to be named but Barney is probably out, wrong type of dinosaur, as is Dorothy.

The fossil was discovered on private land in Montana, in the US, in 2014 and is currently being extracted from rock at a depth of 1.5 metres.

Dr Fitzgerald and a section of the exhibit. Picture: Supplied

Some 270 bones, close to 90 per cent of the skeleton, have been recovered and excavation is continuing.

Not only will the triceratops have the other fossils beat for age, it measures six to seven metres from tip to tail and stands more than two metres tall. The distinctive frill is 148cm wide and with the fearsome three horns, the skull alone weighs 261kg.

As part of the state collection at Museums Victoria, the triceratops will join other dinosaur fossils including “The Cape Patterson Claw”, a Theropod claw that was the first dinosaur bone found in Australia in 1903.

Creative Industries Minister Danny Pearson said the fossil will be a must-see attraction for all ages and a major new attraction for Victoria.

Museums Victoria chief executive Lynley Crosswell said it was a globally significant addition to the State Collection.

“We know our triceratops will delight and amaze audiences, and it will inspire us to consider the remarkable wonder and fragility of life on Earth,” she said.

“This is among the most globally significant dinosaur discoveries ever made and the most complete dinosaur fossil ever acquired by an Australasian museum.”

Museums Victoria’s senior curator of palaeontology Dr Erich Fitzgerald said the quality of the fossil makes it one of the most informative dinosaur fossils in the history of palaeontology.

“This is the Rosetta Stone for understanding triceratops,” he said.

“Despite its popularity, there are still many unanswered questions about the anatomy and palaeobiology of triceratops.”