Bring April back! Support Manchester Museum to install a full Tenontosaurus skeleton

The skeleton, affectionately named April after the wife of Barry James who originally prepared the fossil for display, dates to the Cretaceous period about 110 million ago and was found in Montana, USA.

It was previously displayed in the museum standing upright, however research from Earth Sciences students from the University of Manchester has shed light on how the skeleton should be posed.

The Tenontosaurus will be the focal point of a brand-new display devoted entirely to dinosaurs opening in February 2023.

Visitors will have the opportunity to come face-to-face with prehistoric giants, get hands-on with the objects, look closely at fossils and learn the skills of palaeontology.

The history of British dinosaurs will be included in the display, as well as the story of how dinosaurs became extinct and the impact an asteroid had on the Earth. The objects the museum cares for are key to understanding topics including climate change and evolution.

This project is being developed alongside Manchester Museum’s capital development project hello future.

David Gelsthorpe, Curator of Earth Science Collections, said: “April is a Tenontosaurus purchased by Manchester Museum in 1999 and was previously displayed standing upright. Over the past few years, we have been working with a team of Earth Sciences students from the University of Manchester to carefully study April’s bones and find out more about her. Using their palaeontology skills and computer modelling, their research shows us that she would have moved on all fours.

"As well as changing the way the skeleton stands, over 10,000 hours of careful conservation work is required to restore its bones. We’re asking for any donations, big or small, to support the project and help