Permanent exhibits include
dinosaurs, an
Egyptian area, minerals of
Leicestershire, the first
Charnia fossil identified nearby, and a wildspace area featuring stuffed animals from around the world.
Dinosaurs and fossils skeleton excavated at
Barrow upon Soar Leicester Museum & Art Gallery has a significant collection of extinct lifeforms. Two Mesozoic reptile skeletons are permanently on display — a
cetiosaur found in
Rutland, and a
plesiosaur from
Barrow upon Soar. The Rutland Dinosaur, affectionately nicknamed George, is a specimen of
Cetiosaurus oxoniensis. The dinosaur, which is among the most complete
sauropod skeletons in the world, was discovered in June 1968, in the Williamson Cliffe quarry near
Little Casterton in
Rutland. The skeletal remains have been in the museum since 1975; the majority of the bones in the display are replicas of the originals, which are too fragile to be used. The Rutland Dinosaur featured on an episode of
Blue Peter, and was opened by
Blue Peters
Janet Ellis in 1985. The Barrow Kipper, named after
the flattened fish, is a skeleton of an unidentified plesiosaur discovered in
Barrow upon Soar in 1851. Originally classified as
Plesiosaurus macrocephalus, it was later reclassified as
Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus. However, according to Adam Smith and Gareth Dyke (2008), the fossil is actually of another, unnamed genus. In September 2011, the museum expanded its Dinosaur Gallery, reorganizing fossils, adding a new room, and modifying the gallery itself. The new Dinosaur Gallery, which predominantly features extinct
marine reptiles, was opened by
David Attenborough. It is the first fossil that was ever described that came from undoubted
Precambrian rocks, which until this point had been thought to be too early for large forms of life. The object in the museum – "Leicester's fossil celebrity" – is a
holotype, that is, the actual physical example from which the species was first identified and formally described.
Charnia masoni was named after
Roger Mason, who discovered it at
Charnwood Forest in 1957, when he was a schoolboy, and who went on to a career as an academic geologist. He acknowledges, and the museum's
Charnia display explains, that the fossil had been discovered a year earlier by a schoolgirl,
Tina Negus, "but no one took her seriously."
Ancient Egypt The museum has a permanent Egyptology exhibit. The museum holds four
Egyptian mummies, named Pa-nesit-tawy, Pe-iuy, Bes-en-Mut and Ta-Bes. Pe-iuy was the first to enter the museum's collection being purchased in 1859 for £45. The Egyptology section of the museum has undergone an expansion, covering life in Egypt in greater detail, as well as a section focused on death in Egypt, which is where the four mummies are held. The artefacts came mainly from Europeans visiting Egypt during the revival of interest in Egyptology which occurred during the 19th century. The capacity of the galleries have been greatly expanded as of 2018. The museum holds a collection of over 400 objects from the Ancient Egyptian era, but has only, until recently, been able to display around a third of these. The new gallery has allowed for these to be shown to the public. Since 2020 the galley has been home to a statue of Husband and wife, Sethmose and Isisnofret purchased from the then bankrupt
Thomas Cook Group. ==Other==