Megaloceros giganteus

Title: Irish Elk Skull and Skeleton
Material: Fossilized Bone
Creator: Donated by John Abell/Displayed by designers of Academy at 200 and Art of Science Gallery Collection: The Art of Science/Academy at 200
Year: Late Pleistocene Era/2012

        The Irish elk skull is on display in the Art of Science Gallery. When the gallery was reinterpreted, the museum staff was unable to move the large and heavy skull. So, rather than move it, the skull was incorporated into the exhibition as an art piece. There are panels with a description of the skull, photographs of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins’ life-size sculpture and a painted plaster model by Charles R. Knight along with Shane Stratton’s 2010 charcoal anatomical study. A fully articulated Irish elk skull is also on display as part of The Academy at 200 exhibition. The Academy at 200: The Nature of Discovery exhibition also includes a grooved brain coral, cast of a marine reptile fossil, 400 lb meteorite, specimen jars, mammal skulls, fish bones, fish bones, shark teeth, and a giant clam.
      The Irish elk skeleton was donated to the museum by John Abell in 1853. I was unable to find more information on Abell, but I did find the copy of the donations to the museum from May 3, 1853 which lists the elk skeleton. The skeleton was taken off display and loaned to the Rutgers Geological Museum, but returned to the museum for the bicentennial celebration earlier this year. It was missing some teeth, so sculpted and painted teeth were molded to complete the skeleton.
       A study of the Pleistocene era and similar extinct creatures would enhance the study of the Irish elk skeleton and skull. It would also be beneficial to know that the ancient elk is related to similar species living today, such as reindeer. The popularity of the animated Ice Age films, could also spark childrens’ interest in the fossils. As with the films, the fossil skull and skeleton could be used to educate visitors about climate change and extinction. Museum educators could create a link in visitors minds between the extinct elk and its endangered cousins today.

      An opposing view may be that the Irish elk skull should have been moved to make more gallery space for the Art of Science Gallery. I think, however, that the reason the skull is an important exhibit element in the gallery is because it shows some of the difficulties curators and exhibit planners encounter when trying to reinterpret a space. This is a perfect example of a problem I have seen as other museums and which I believe was handled well.