Conservator Felicity Bolton with a Protoceratops skull, once believed to be the head of the mythical griffin. Courtesy Natural History Museum

A new exhibition at the Walter Rothschild Zoological Museum in Tring, Hertfordshire, explores our fascination with fossil bones and the myths that have grown up around them over thousands of years.

Fossil Folklore runs until 8 July 2007 and seeks to separate fact from fiction surrounding our understanding of fossils. Ancient bones and fossilised remains have inspired and intrigued ancient civilisations for millennia but it’s only been in the past 300 years or so that palaeontologists have been able to reveal the truth behind such finds.

The exhibition looks at how our ancestors sought to explain the strange, awe inspiring fossil discoveries they made and how the folklore about monsters and strange creatures grew up around them.

Exhibition curator Alice Dowswell prepares a fossil shark's tooth for display. Courtesy Natural History Museum

A huge woolly rhinoceros skull forms the impressive centrepiece of the exhibition. Research conducted over the past 30 years has shown rhinoceros fossils were previously thought to be dragons. It’s thought the reason could be that such skulls were often found in caves, giving birth to the myth of the cave-dwelling dragon.

“The historical spread of dragons is the same as that of Pleistocene fossil rhinos,” said Andy Currant, Ice Age mammal curator at the Natural History Museum. “The fact no one recognised their anatomy until about 1700 when modern rhino remains started to turn up in Europe is significant. Dragons are usually linked to caves – where woolly rhinos are often found – and rhino skulls have been found sitting on bone heaps.”

The other exhibits have equally exotic tales, and rather more prosaic explanations, behind them. The skull of the Cretaceous dinosaur Protoceratops also features. This was originally thought to come from the mythical griffin; bones of the Protoceratops have been found in the region where the griffin was said to have lived, the Gobi desert of Mongolia.

The skull of the dwarf elephant with its large holes was at one time mistaken for the head of the one-eyed Cyclops. Further magical myths are debunked by the exhibition, including the intriguing sounding fairy loaves and angels’ money.

The skulls of Protoceratops have been found in the Gobi Desrt of Mongolia, the region where the griffin was said to have lived. Courtesy Natural History Museum

Fossil Folklore aims to be both fun and entertaining and offers something for the whole family. Interactive exhibits sit side by side with real specimens and informative labels reveal how the fossils were made and the important roles they have played in medicine, myth and magic.

“Fossils are fascinating for people of all ages,” said Alice Dowswell, curator of the exhibition. “We’ve all grown up learning about fossils and hearing the stories behind them and Fossil Folklore gives visitors a chance to discover what fossils really are, as well as what people used to think they were.”

“Scientists have been studying fossils for more than 200 years, but there’s still a lot of information missing,” she continued. “The study of fossils is very exciting; future discoveries might tell us about previously unknown creatures that used to exist and change our view of the way the earth evolved.”