Explained: Dippy, the world’s most popular Dinosaur cast

Dippy the dinosaur: A look at the history of the iconic skeleton and its immense popularity.

London's 26-metre-long Dippy is a plaster cast replica of the fossilised bones of a diplodocus carnegii skeleton. (Twitter/ @Dippy_the_Dino)

Dippy the dinosaur, who famously stood in the entrance hall of London’s Natural History Museum for decades, returns to its home in May after concluding a four-year-long tour across the UK. Seen by more than two million people in numerous cities, including in Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff, the diplodocus will now again be displayed in its hometown in Kensington, west London, as part of an exhibition from May. A look at the history of the iconic skeleton and its immense popularity.

Who is Dippy?

London’s 26-metre-long Dippy is a plaster cast replica of the fossilised bones of a diplodocus carnegii skeleton. The original, also known as Dippy, is on display at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Natural History. “Dippy was the first Diplodocus (DIP-low-DOCK-us) to go on display anywhere in the world when it was gifted to the Museum in 1905. Dippy quickly became a star, capturing hearts and imaginations,” reads the Natural History Museum, London, website.

The fossilised skeleton from which Dippy was cast was discovered in Wyoming in 1899. It was acquired by the Scottish-American industrialist Andrew Carnegie for the still under construction Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, where it still stands. According to the Carnegie Museum website, “Museum director William J Holland organised the expedition to the American west in 1899. After three months of searching, a team member discovered a huge toe bone at Sheep’s Creek Wyoming. Further digging led to a massive, long neck dinosaur later identified as a sauropod…The news broke, and before he was even excavated, Dippy was a celebrity. Visitors thronged to the site in Wyoming, which was dubbed “Camp Carnegie.” After the sufficient collection of Dippy’s bones, boxes were constructed, and the bones were sent back to Pittsburgh in 130 crates.”

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When and why was the cast made?

King Edward VII of the UK arguably saw a sketch of the bones of Dippy in 1902, and asked Carnegie for a dinosaur for England. William Holland, the then director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, reportedly suggested that the museum could give the king a plaster cast. Reportedly 292 cast pieces of the skeleton were sent to London in 36 crates and the model was assembled under the supervision of Carnegie scientists. While the structure was disassembled and stored in the museum basement during World War II to prevent any damage, over the years changes have also been made to the structure based on new discoveries.

Replicas of Dippy now exist in the national museums of Paris, Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Russia, Spain, Argentina and Mexico.

How popular is Dippy?

Considered the most famous single dinosaur skeleton in the world, Dippy has been a subject of several children’s books apart from a book dedicated to the dinosaur, Dippy: The Tale of a Museum Icon. The product range celebrating the dinosaur is wide — from mugs to T-shirts, caps to soft toys and also an ice flavour. It has also featured in popular films such as Paddington, Night at the Museum 3 and One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing.

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