UPDATED at noon Sept. 19 with ticket information.
Tickets are now on sale for the Perot Museum's upcoming exhibition "Origins: Fossils from the Cradle of Humankind," which, beginning Oct. 19, will showcase fossils from two ancient human relatives.
Aside from the fossils themselves, the 5,000-square-foot exhibit will also include a "a simulated excavation site," according to the museum, which will allow visitors to play the part of researchers, "using the same ground-penetrating technology," that they employ in their work. Taxidermy and cultural artifacts from southern Africa, where the fossils were discovered, will round out visitors' experience of the exhibition.
For scientists, a "glass-encased visiting scholar lab" will be on-site, allowing them to get up close and personal with the two fossils without removing them from public view.
The two fossils will be on loan from South Africa. It will be the first time they have ever left that country for public display.
The fossils represent ancient human relatives from vastly different time periods — and vastly different species. The older fossil belongs to an individual of the species Australopithecus sediba and dates to about 2 million years ago. The newer remains are about 300,000 years old and belong to a Homo naledi individual, whom scientists named Neo.
Both were found at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa, about an hour's drive from Johannesburg.
North Texas will get access to the rare fossils thanks to Lee Berger, a National Geographic explorer-at-large who teaches at the University of the Witwatersrand (more casually called Wits) in Johannesburg. He was the lead scientist involved in the discovery of both remains. The Perot Museum developed a formal partnership with Wits through the museum’s connection with Berger.
The sediba fossil was found in 2008 and was the first discovered fossil of this species. Berger's 9-year-old son casually ran across the remains encased in rock while his father was working nearby.
The Homo naledi remains were found in 2013 by two cavers who squeezed through several crawl spaces in the Rising Star Cave system in search of fossils. The small path led to a chamber filled with ancient bones splayed all over the ground. Before 2013, scientists never knew Homo naledi existed.
Neither sediba nor naledi is our direct ancestors. They instead introduce unexpected branches to humanity's ancestral family tree. "These particular fossils are important because they have forced us to reexamine the way we perceive human evolution," said Shara Bailey, a paleoanthropologist at New York University who was not involved in the discoveries.
The exhibit is part of the Perot’s recently launched Center for the Exploration of the Human Journey, for which Berger is the lead science adviser. The fossils will remain on display until March 22, when they will be returned to their home in South Africa. The exhibit is organized in partnership with the National Geographic Society and the University of the Witwatersrand.
“It’s a great opportunity for the people in Dallas and for us as a museum to showcase this fantastic research,” said Becca Peixotto, a trained archaeologist and the center’s director.
The Perot Museum created the Center for the Exploration of the Human Journey as part of a larger effort to build a “national reputation and, to some degree, an international reputation,” said Linda Silver, the museum’s CEO.
Rare remains transported from South Africa do well to help achieve that goal. Human origin exhibits typically display mere copies of ancient hominin fossils. “To know that you’re not looking at a cast or a replica, but you’re really seeing the real thing. That’s one of the important pieces of having the fossils here — obviously,” Silver said.
Hominin fossils are too precious, however, for Wits to have the final say on whether Perot Museum can borrow them for display.
“The government is very much involved in deciding whether or not we can move these fossils and borrow them for a very limited period of time,” said Peixotto. Wits successfully pitched the idea to the South African Heritage Resources Agency to get permission to showcase its treasured findings in Dallas.
Peixotto is not only one of the directors at the Perot Museum, she also helped excavate Neo from the Rising Star caves. Along with a team of other scientists, Peixotto has been visiting South Africa since 2013, squeezing through tight, treacherous tunnels into chambers that contain thousands of hominin fossils.
She’s confident they’ll find more. “Every time we think we’ve got a handle on where this cave goes, how many rooms have fossils in them, something new is discovered,” she said.
She said she would descend into the cave again Thursday — the first time she’s done so in months. In fact, she’ll be excavating bones from the same chamber where Neo was found.
Peixotto expressed excitement for the opportunity to bring these fossils to Dallas residents. “Perhaps,” she said, “it’ll prompt people to think about who we are, where we come from, and what that means for us today.”
Details
In addition to regular museum admission, "Origins: Fossils from the Cradle of Humankind" requires a surcharge of $10 for adults (13-64) and seniors (65+) or $8 for youth (2-12). The exhibit is free for children under two. Member tickets are $7 for all age levels. Advance tickets available at
. Exhibit runs Oct. 19 - March 22 at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, 2201 N. Field St.
Jordan Wilkerson reports on science for The Dallas Morning News as part of a fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
