In the late 1800s, a plan was set in motion to create a grand dinosaur museum in New York City. The museum would boast stunningly realistic models of dinosaurs, unlike anything the world had ever seen. However, before the museum could even open its doors, it was destroyed by vandals who used sledgehammers to smash the models and buried them in Central Park. In this episode of Science Vs, we explore the events surrounding the Great Dinosaur Smashup of 1871 and try to uncover why it happened.
We speak with doctoral researcher Vicky Coules and paleontologist Carl Mehling to learn more about the history of dinosaur discoveries in that era, as well as the famous Crystal Palace dinosaurs and the birth of the Paleozoic Museum idea. Through our investigation, we examine various suspects, including notorious Boss Tweed.
As we delve deeper into this mystery, Vicky discovers that there is still one final piece missing: the location of the buried models. This episode of Science Vs was produced by Blythe Terrell with assistance from Wendy Zukerman, R.E. Natowicz, Michelle Dang, Meryl Horn, Rose Rimler, and Joel Werner. It was edited by Wendy Zukerman, fact-checked by Erica Akiko Howard