Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Brussels)+Teylers Museum (Haarlem)

[Nanuqsaurus]

Hey everyone on the Dinosaur Toy Forum!

Back in late January, when Europe (and most of the world) wasn't too worried about a certain virus yet, I visited my sister in Brussels, Belgium. I had a few days time to discover the city, and once there I found out that they have a very nice natural history museum. It's home to the incredible Bernissart Iguanodons, which I'm sure many of you are familiar with. As a dinosaur fan, you can't let that kind of opportunity pass of course! This week I realized I haven't shared any pictures of my trip on here yet, so I decided to combine it into one thread along with my more recent visit to the Teylers Museum in Haarlem. More about that later, I'll show you the pictures from Brussels first! I was pleasantly surprised by this museum, as it has a very extensive collection and well designed exhibitions. I can absolutely recommend this museum to any dinosaur or nature fan in the area.

The main palaeontology hall:


Mammoth:


Prehistoric dwarf baleen whale:


A beautiful painting of the restoration of an Iguanodon, I wouldn't mind having this hanging on the wall of my living room!


Well preserved fossils of a snake, bird and small mammal from Germany:



Petrified tree:


Thylacine, or ''Tasmanian tiger'':


The famous Bernissart Iguanodons. They have quite a lot of these guys:



Display showing the way the Iguanodon remains were found in the Bernissart mines:


More pictures soon!

[CityRaptor]

Ah, I've been there myself a few years ago. Yeah, it's a pretty great museum.

As for hanging that painting on your wall: The museum shop is actually selling prints or posters of that one.

[ceratopsian]

It's many years since I've been in this museum. Good to look again!

[Shonisaurus]

That is a good Museum, it has fossil remains of prehistoric animals that many Natural Science museums in the world do not have.

[Nanuqsaurus]

As for hanging that painting on your wall: The museum shop is actually selling prints or posters of that one.

Ah, I must have missed that because I was too busy looking at their amazing selection of Papo, CollectA and Safari figures in the gift shop! Just the gift shop is worth visiting already if you're from a Schleich-dominated country like I am haha!

Here are the rest of the pictures. Some of these (usually the ones found in Belgium and neighbouring countries) are genuine fossils, but quite a few are casts.

Prehistoric turtle:


Velociraptor and Protoceratops skulls:


Oviraptor:


Edmontosaurus I think? It's been a while so I'm not entirely sure. Maybe someone can correct me on this one!
EDIT: Maiasaura! Thanks Loon


Cryolophosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus skull:


Neat dinosaur family tree:


Coelophysis and Eoraptor:


Zalmoxes and Tyrannosaurus:


Some sort of Mosasaur I suppose:


Dimetrodon:


Plateosaurus:


Nearly complete Hainosaurus:


Trace fossils of ancient bacteria, some of the earliest known evidence of life on earth:


Dunkleosteus skull:


''Arkhane'' the Allosaurus:


The evolution gallery:

[Shonisaurus]

By the way, the prehistoric tortoise in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, what species does it belong to? it seems to be very large.

[Loon]

Wow, that's a really amazing museum. I love the evolution hall in particular, and of course any museum with Protoceratops fossils on display gets me excited.

@Nanuqsaurus looking at the skull of that ornithopod, I guessed it was Maiasaura. This picture was actual one of the first to pop up for "Maiasaura skeleton" on a google image search.

Your trip actually reminds me of when I went it Texas (almost two years ago now) to see my sister. We went to a very nice museum, and they also had quite the selection of figures. I'll have to post images from that trip sometime.

[DinoToyForum]

Are those open-displayed animals taxidermy specimens or models?

[Nanuqsaurus]

By the way, the prehistoric tortoise in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, what species does it belong to? it seems to be very large.

It's quite a while ago since I visited this museum, so sadly I don't remember the species name anymore. I think it was on display among other fossils found near the Iguanodon mines, so it's likely a species from early Cretaceous Europe. I wish I had more info for you, but I hope that helps.

Wow, that's a really amazing museum. I love the evolution hall in particular, and of course any museum with Protoceratops fossils on display gets me excited.

@Nanuqsaurus looking at the skull of that ornithopod, I guessed it was Maiasaura. This picture was actual one of the first to pop up for "Maiasaura skeleton" on a google image search.

Your trip actually reminds me of when I went it Texas (almost two years ago now) to see my sister. We went to a very nice museum, and they also had quite the selection of figures. I'll have to post images from that trip sometime.

Thanks! Yes, the Evolution Hall is spectacular. You start up top and then make your way downstairs along different themed areas, each one showing how life evolved during that time and how the continents shifted. It even ends with some speculative evolution and future animals, I think that's quite a rare thing for museums to show.
And thanks for letting me know it's a Maiasaura! That makes sense, this same skeleton is even the Wikipedia picture for Maiasaura. I'll edit my previous post to correct it.

Are those open-displayed animals taxidermy specimens or models?

I think vast majority of those are taxidermy, but the aquatic species like the dolphins looked more like models to me. I've seen this in other museums too, so I guess marine creatures are way more difficult to make taxidermy specimens of.

But, like I mentioned, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences isn't the only museum trip I have pictures of. In early August, I visited the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, The Netherlands. The Teylers Museum is the oldest museum in the country, which makes the building itself quite a sight to see. The museum was founded in the late 18th century, back when they would just collect anything that had something to do with science and nature. Because of that, they have a very varied collection and there's no specific theme. The museum is not very large, but it's quite the experience because it feels like you're stepping right into the age of 18th and 19th century explorers. It seems like the descriptions of the items on display wasn't even updated since that time, so it could be quite outdated, but I think for a museum like this one that only adds to the charm of it. There was a temporary exhibition called ''Dinomakers'' there, about palaeo-art througout the ages. At first I was in doubt if I should visit at all because of the whole COVID situation, but luckily the museum had taken good measures. It wasn't very crowded and most visitors paid attention to social distancing. In the end I was glad I went there, as I wouldn't have wanted to miss such an interesting exhibition!

Sadly I forgot my camera at home, so I had to make do with my phone's camera. Sorry in advance for some very low quality pictures!

The fossil hall:



Cave bear skeleton:


Ichthyosaur:


Phorusrhacos skull:


Plenty of ammonites, in all sizes!


Might not look like much, but these are hadrosaur bones found in The Netherlands. That's kinda special because true dinosaur fossils are a rare find in my country. The Netherlands was mainly just ocean floor during the majority of the Mesozoic:


Arsinoitherium skull, or as the description in the museum calls it, ''the Monster from the Fayum''. Descriptions like these are quite common throughout the museum, and I like how it shows how little understanding people had of the fossils they found during their time:


More pictures of the Teylers Museum soon!

[Halichoeres]

Looks like a great place. Thanks so much for sharing these photos.