Expedition Notes: In The Field With Fossil Hunter Barnum Brown

In the early 1900s, dinosaur bones were like Egyptian mummies: mysteries that dazzled both the public and scientists. Museums vying for the treasures hired skilled excavators to scour the land in search of buried bones. Barnum Brown was among the best of these dino hunters: both skilled showman and serious scientist. In 1902, Brown set out at the behest of the American Museum of Natural History. The expedition yielded the first specimen of an animal that would capture the imagination of generations to come: the Tyrannosaurus rex. See photos from his early expeditions and read letters between him and the museum.

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Expedition Notes: In The Field With Fossil Hunter Barnum Brown. Photographs and letters of early fossil hunting and exploration.

Source: American Museum of Natural History Archives and Paleontology Library

Credit: Producer: Andrew Prince; Editor: Maria Godoy

 

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