2,000 volunteers join a painstaking effort to restore massive skeleton of prehistoric predator
Scientists say the nearly six-meter skeleton will be the largest of its kind displayed in a museum once restoration is complete.
- On Tuesday, July 21, 2026, over 2,000 volunteers worked at the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw to restore a Mastodonsaurus skeleton, a massive amphibian that lived 240 million years ago.
- Paleontologist Tomasz Sulej of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Wojciech Pawlak from Warsaw University discovered the skeleton in southern Poland in 2023, identifying it as the largest Mastodonsaurus ever found.
- Volunteers, ranging from tattoo artists to cleaners, receive training to use pneumatic chisels exposing the 1,300-kilogram skeleton, which grew to nearly 20 feet in length.
- Volunteer Dorota Serafin called the restoration "relaxing and philosophical, even mystical." The Copernicus Science Centre expects to exhibit the completed skeleton in October or November.
- Unlike smaller Mastodonsaurus skeletons found in Germany and Russia, this specimen offers new scientific insights. Sulej said the species' survival after extinction "shows one thing, that nature always manages," providing hope amid climate concerns.
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Scientists found a 2,865-pound predator from before dinosaurs ruled Earth; now 2,000 ordinary people are helping reveal its skeleton
In an exciting collaboration, over 2,000 public volunteers are meticulously cleaning a colossal 1,300-kilogram fossilized skeleton of a Mastodonsaurus, an ancient amphibian that roamed the Earth 240 million years ago. Armed with specialized tools and ultraviolet light, these dedicated individuals are uncovering the mysteries of our planet's history. The spectacular skeleton is expected to be on display by October or November, showcasing humanity…
Volunteers join effort to restore massive skeleton
Volunteers armed with chisels, brushes and protective goggles chip away at rock encasing the bones of a massive amphibian in a glass-walled laboratory on the ground floor of Warsaw’s Copernicus Science Centre.On the other side of the wall, visitors watch the work unfold on the bones of the nearly 6m
Associated Press News
2,000 volunteers join a painstaking effort to restore massive skeleton of prehistoric predator
More than 2,000 volunteers are helping Polish scientists restore a Mastodonsaurus skeleton. This massive amphibian was an aquatic predator from around the dawn of the dinosaur age.
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