In Warsaw, the Museum of Evolution has original remains and reconstructions of the Wawel Dragon, a large predatory reptile from around 210 million years ago, and its prey, Lisowicia, a mammal-like reptile.
The new exhibition entitled “The Wawel Dragon and its prey Lisowicia” opened officially on December 9. It presents the results of excavations from the Lipie Śląskie brickyard in Lisowice near Lubliniec.
An extraordinary set of flora and fauna from 210 million years ago (late Triassic) has been preserved there. The creators put on the platform the sculptures of skeletons of the largest animals from this site, i.e. a predatory reptile called the Wawel Dragon and its prey, a herbivorous mammal-like reptile Lisowicia – the largest and youngest dicynodont in the world.
The publication about Lisowicia appeared in the prestigious journal Science.
Despite its mystery and predatory nature, the Wawel Dragon has an unclear systematic affiliation. Large three-toe tracks found at the same site may indicate that it was once a dinosaur habitat. In the exhibition, visitors can use a tablet and an application to see how the dragon might have looked when it was alive. You can view detailed descriptions and illustrations of dragons and foxes on the tablet by pressing selected points.
“We have been dreaming about this exhibition for a long time, but it was very difficult to obtain funds for the reconstruction, because the skeleton of the Lisowicia cost PLN 90,000. The purchase became possible thanks to funding from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the National Center for Culture. For 10 years, it was available only to students and employees of the University of Warsaw, but now it is on public display for the first time”.
said Dr. Tomasz Sulej, who participated in the preparation of the exhibition.
The exhibition was financed by the National Center for Culture with the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The author of all the reconstructions is the sculptor Marta Szubert.