Dear experts, you’ve got the wrong dinosaur...
Boy, 10, spots museum error
EvEry parent knows that when it comes to dinosaurs you’d better be pretty certain before you doubt a tenyear-old’s knowledge.
So Charlie Edwards’ mother should perhaps have trusted him when he spotted an error in a display... at the Natural History Museum.
Charlie was celebrating his birthday at the world renowned attraction, when he noticed a silhouette exhibit had been mislabelled.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw it identified as an oviraptor, a small carnivore with a beak.
In fact, it was a protoceratops, a sheep-sized herbivore. But when he told his mother Jade, 29, she Display showed protoceratops said it was almost impossible the museum’s experts had blundered.
Mrs Edwards said: ‘Charlie was reading the signs and there was what was supposed to be an oviraptor silhouette next to a human
...but said it was an oviraptor one to show the size difference.’
The boy told his mother, ‘that’s wrong’ and, pointing to the display, added: ‘This part here is not right, that’s not an oviraptor.’ ‘I said to him, ‘‘This is the Natural History Museum, I know you’re really good with your dinosaur information, but I’m not sure if you’re right,’’ said Mrs Edwards.
But Charlie was adamant and a museum volunteer suggested the mother- of- three from Canvey Island, Essex, email the museum.
Sure enough its experts confirmed he was right this week.
‘ We should have realised he would have been right, he loves his dinosaurs,’ said Mrs Edwards.
‘I am really, really proud of him. Charlie has Asperger syndrome and tends to find a subject he loves and tries to learn so much about it. So it’s really nice that he’s been able to show what he’s learned and that knowledge base. He was beaming from ear to ear.’
Charlie, whose favourite dinosaur is the giganotosaurus, said: ‘I knew from reading my books it was not right, so I told my mum and dad.’
A museum spokesman said: ‘We are very impressed with Charlie’s knowledge and hope his passion for palaeontology continues.
‘research and our understanding of the natural world are constantly changing and the dinosaurs gallery has been refurbished several times to reflect this. In the process an error has been made.’