Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 21hBest I can do is try and turn half of that into a cafe 040
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 23hTyrannosaurus rex was described 121 years ago today. Yes, the skeleton at the Academy of Natural Sciences is a cast of AMNH 5027, but there are also real bones in the collection (that at one point, visitors could touch!) 1293
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Who Would Win: 50+ years of embracing the "dinosaur museum" moniker, or nine years of this guy 132
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Whenever you hear Drexel claim that closing the Academy was inevitable (but still committed to public education, somehow), know that the museum's historic Irish elk skeleton c. 1853 is currently on display in a high-traffic area in their main academic bldg with close to zero protection #FossilFriday 11512
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"We have not received a formal proposal with a defined level of financial support" even though we've been handed a blank check for a full year www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/n... 153
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 29/09/2026JOB'S NOT DONE Surprise Drexel board meeting in Old City tonight. The Academy of Natural Sciences is following them there. Constitution Center, 525 Arch St, Philadelphia PA, TODAY (Sept. 29) at 4:30pm @savetheacademy.bsky.social 22110
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026This is the last weekend for you to visit the Academy of Natural Sciences — in theory. But this is not over, and our work — our COLLECTIVE work, as a society and as stewards of the world we live in — is not done. 1125
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Because as I've just shown, museum volunteers don't just direct visitors to the bathrooms and teach them about bones. They also help maintain the millions of specimens that form the beating heart of these places, and ensure their relevance for centuries to come. 192
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Unpaid volunteers are the backbone of institutions like these, and their work often goes unsung. So when a governing body, for instance, lets go of a museum's volunteer coordinator in the dead of night, that tells you they might not, in fact, have said museum's best interests in mind. 1155
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026As an avocational paleontologist, Del helped collect new species out in the field, fabricated new exhibits, and even maintained the collections — where in 1993, he helped repair the bones of Hadrosaurus foulkii, to slow the inevitable march of pyrite disease in these invaluable specimens. 1101
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026And I can't finish before talking about one more group of people — but to do that, I have to bring it all full circle, and introduce a guy named Adelbert Szatmary. "Del" was a veteran Marine, a police officer in New Jersey, and most importantly for our story, a volunteer at the Academy. 1102
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Speaking of teaching, the Academy's education department has been the public face of the museum through thick and thin, running programs like the yearly science camps and Women in Natural Sciences (WINS), that provides after-school science enrichment to high school-aged girls in the Philly area. 1102
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026And that's just Dinosaur Hall! So many people over the past hundred-plus years have contributed to the exhibits that teach visitors from the local community — and from around the world — about the natural sciences and our place on the planet. 192
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Many talented artists contributed to the renovation — including Bruce Mohn (who taught a paleoart class I attended as a teenager!), Paul Sorton, Bob Walters, Tess Kissinger, and future Lazendorf Prize winner Brian Cooley 192
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026The 1998 renovations to Dino Hall and associated exhibits featured the work of many talented preparators such as Don Lessem & team, Triebold Paleontology, the Black Hills Institute, and other talented individuals/organizations who came to Philly when the Dinofest convention descended upon the city. 1113
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026When Discovering Dinosaurs opened in 1986, it was thanks to the work of not only the consulting scientists but of the blood, sweat, and tears of the exhibits department that put it all together. Check out all those familiar faces who would later lend their expertise to other museums! (see alt text) 1153
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Even though the Academy's behind-the-scenes vert paleo collections are large and of extreme historical significance, I've been posting about the exhibits on public display. Even if the building only closes temporarily, vast swathes of institutional knowledge about the museum will still be lost. 1112
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026That's where the story ends — and if the Academy does indeed close at the end of the month, permanently. (Drexel says the collections will be maintained, but this is uncertain at best...read on) But eagle-eyed readers may have noticed something about all my #FossilFriday posts this month. 1101
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026In 2025 — a month or so before the museum's hours were reduced from five days a week to three amidst another round of staff layoffs — Haddy finally returned to Dinosaur Hall in all its glory, only a short distance away from where Hawkins' mount originally stood. 1122
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026The RCI mount was recycled for use in a rotating gallery where various local artists would draw their interpretation of Hadrosaurus in chalk on the wall directly behind the skeleton. A new drawing would appear every year until the exhibit was shuttered after COVID 1112
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026However, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of its discovery, the Academy put together a special exhibit on the history of Hadrosaurus foulkii, featuring a brand new cast mount by the crew at Research Casting International (and a special cameo from Hawkins' old skull sculpt). 1122
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026During the 1998 renovations, this display was downsized and moved up against the southern wall of the room, with some signage explaining the dinosaur's history. It's still there today, sandwiched between a bunch of ceratopsians, humble in comparison to the rest of the room's inhabitants. 1101
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026As part of the Academy's landmark 1986 exhibit Discovering Dinosaurs, Hadrosaurus (affectionately referred to as "Haddy") returned as cast bones affixed to a silhouette of the living animal. (I'm still looking for good photos of it — these are screenshots of a 140p gif from the Wayback Machine 😅) 1121
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Dinosaurs returned to the Academy in the 50s with the debut of a Corythosaurus, as mentioned in my previously quoted post at top of thread. Many of the bones of Hadrosaurus itself sat in a display case on a far wall of the room, although the effects of pyrite disease were taking their toll. 1112
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026...all the way into the 1930s, before it was finally removed from its pride of place in the Academy's main hall and dismantled entirely soon afterwards. Someone fished the plaster skull (a completely speculative reconstruction) out of the dumpster, and it remains in the collections to this day. 1122
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Hadrosaurus became so famous that various casts of the bones were assembled and shipped to other museums (another first), even well after better discoveries of dinosaurs were made. None of them made it past the early 1900s, but Hawkins' original mount in Philadelphia persisted... 1101
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026When Leidy and Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins assembled the bones in 1868, it was the very first time a dinosaur skeleton was mounted for display, and the exhibit became so popular that the Academy had to start charging admission to control the crowds (and eventually, move into a larger building). 1101
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I'll speedrun through the origin story: John Hopkins finds some strange bones in a marl pit on his NJ farm in the 1830s, a couple decades later William Parker Foulke catches wind of them and notifies paleontologist Joseph Leidy, who then names Hadrosaurus foulkii to much acclaim, etc. etc... 1111
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026It's #FossilFriday, and indeed the final scheduled Friday that the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia is open to the public, potentially forever. So it's finally time to, once again, talk about Haddy — and bring it all full circle. Strap in, it's a big one. 17339
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Did someone say it's #WorldGorillaDay? The Academy of Natural Sciences' western lowland gorilla diorama is the only one of its kind in the world — other dioramas either use mountain gorillas or zoo specimens. Du Chaillu's original expedition was also sponsored by the Academy. 11210
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 22/09/2026THROWBACK THURSDAY (on a Monday night) From 1986: the Academy of Natural Sciences' old Stenonychosaurus diorama, featuring Ron Séguin's classic model based on the work of Dale Russell. Dinosauroid companion blissfully not included. 283
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Historic gorilla and takin taxidermy temporarily staged inside the (no longer extant) library reading room of the Academy of Natural Sciences #MuseumMonday 131
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Averaging four thousand people a day and they're even reading all the labels 0185
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Was exceptionally busy at the Academy of Natural Sciences last night, filming some stuff but took almost no pictures. These notes from visitors should speak for themselves 042
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026A delightful mid-century mural of Corythosaurus (painted by artist Jonathan Leo Fairbanks, who died only last month) accompanied the mount, and in many respects became just as famous. Sadly it did not survive the renovations of the 90s and was cut into pieces to be shipped to the Bruce Museum 1113
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026When "Dolores" the Corythosaurus (first excavated by famous fossil hunter Levi Sternberg) debuted in its Hall of Earth History in 1957, the Academy of Natural Sciences quickly became known among locals as "the dinosaur museum." The Academy is much more, but Dolores remains standing. #FossilFriday 23514
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 17/09/2026From Philadelphia City Council this afternoon: a unanimous resolution (introduced by councilmembers @ninaahmadphl.bsky.social & Jeffrey Young Jr.) passed to investigate the announced closure of the Academy of Natural Sciences & authorize any subpoenas related to the matter 087
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 16/09/2026From the office of Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad, press conference at 9AM outside Room 494, before the city council meeting: 027
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Philadelphia city council meeting this Thursday to fight for the Academy of Natural Sciences. Local folks should be there at 8:45am, press conference at 9, meeting starts at 10. More to come save-the-academy.org 01012
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 14/09/2026A fun follow-up: it's fairly well known that John Ostrom was a scientific consultant for the Deinonychus sculpture outside ANSP, but Yale preparator Bob Allen also helped mount the skeleton inside. After a few years he would do the same for the Peabody's own exhibits 083
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 13/09/2026Ever see Benjamin Franklin posing with a Mamenchisaurus? Didn't think so 130
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 11/09/2026The Deinonychus skeleton (cast) that stood in the ANSP's Dinosaur Hall for nearly forty years was the first of its kind, mounted two years before Yale could install one in the Peabody Museum. Contrary to popular belief, the Bone Wars never really ended. #FossilFriday 14014
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 08/09/2026What a turnout. Shoutouts to @geosplore.bsky.social, @ausarchosaur.bsky.social, @saabgt750.bsky.social and many others w/o bsky accounts that I met for the first time, and many more old friends who made the trip (in some cases, from across the country) Job's not done 163
Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 07/09/2026In observation of their extinction, 90 years ago today: the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia's very own thylacine (Photo by thylacine-dreams on tumblr) 24212
