A 10-year-old boy, who has Asperger syndrome, corrected the Natural History Museum in London after he discovered that one of their dinosaurs was labeled incorrectly.
Charlie Edwards, from Canvey Island, Essex, said he was looking around for dinosaur clues when he noticed something was wrong, reported The Independent.
“We were walking around looking for dinosaur clues. So I read this one sign that had an egg but then it showed the full dinosaur side-by-side comparison to a human and I saw that the shape of it was wrong.
“It was claimed to be an oviraptor but it looked from the triceratops family,” the boy added.
The museum mistakenly used a silhouette of a protoceratops, a sheep-sized herbivore.
Charlie’s mother, Jade Edwards didn’t believe him at first, saying, “OK, we know you’re good, but this is the Natural History Museum,” she told the BBC.
But Charlie insisted he was right: “He told us ‘No, give me your phone and I’ll show you.' He Googled it and I could see quite clearly it was a differently shaped dinosaur. It turned out Charlie was right,” reported The Independent.
Charlie’s family informed The Natural History Museum and shortly after, the family received a letter back, saying that “Charlie was correct and they are going to change it,” said Jade.
The letter read:
“I am writing to thank you for getting in touch with us to point out an error you spotted in our dinosaurs gallery when you visited us for the Dino Snores event in July. You are indeed right; the label does not show a correct silhouette for oviraptor.
“I have spoken with the Exhibitions team and our Earth Science paleontologist Professor Paul Barrett about this and we will update the label.
“Thank you again for getting in touch with us. We really hope you keep your enthusiasm for paleontology.”
Friends Read Free