| [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Thread Index] | [Date Prev] | [Date Next] | [Date Index] |
> Hello
> I am a graduate student working on a project for the University of
> Nebraska State Museum, the project being the mount of an ostrich
> skeleton that will be used for comparative studies (the skeleton
> resembles dinos in alot of ways) I would like to inquire if anyone
> else has been around a full skeletal mount of one of these critters, and if
> so,
> I would like to aquire photos of the skeleton. I have been unable to
> find any good references that deal with ostrich osteology (seems like
> everyone that grows them around here is mainly concerned with sickness
> and or feeding problems) If anyone has even a tidbit of information I
> would be glad to hear from you. Also, if anyone would like
> information on the actual cleaning of an ostrich skeleton I had
> excellent results and would be happy to share the process.
>
> Heres to 300 lb birds!
>
> Guy Hanley
> UNL State Museum
Guy:
I haven' t done an ostrich, but I have skeletonized and mounted
a rhea, which is a comparable but smaller job. I used dermestids
for the major defleshing operation, and finished it up by boiling
the bones and then bleaching them with Chlorox and sunlight. I
mounted the specimen with 1/4" copper tubing to articulate and shape
the vertebral column and skull (I insert the tubing into the foramen
magnum with a home-made screw fitting epoxied into the braincase).
The legs are fixed with stainless steel bolts cemented into
the femoral heads and run through the open acetabula (a nice feature
of avian dinosaurs that makes this quite easy).
The whole affair is supported by a ss trunnion hammered from 1/8"
stock which supports the neck about 1/3 way cranially from the trunk.
This trunnion rests on a 3/8" rod inserted into a wooden block on a 2
x 3' sheet of plywood. The bird stands on its hind legs and the neck
support.
My students frequently put cigarettes in its mouth because the thing
looks so normal standing there in the classroom.
Cheers,
David Schwimmer
Dep't of Chemistry & Geology
Columbus College, Columbus GA 31907-5645
schwimmer_david@cc.csg.peachnet.edu
No, I'm not Ross.
Partial index: