Carlos Iván Hernández y Miguel Ángel Salazar, Scrotum Humanum, 2020
Scrotum humanum was the first classification of a dinosaur fossil in history.
Its first record appears in the book 'Natural History of Oxfordshire' published in 1676 by naturalist Robert Plot, long before the concept of 'dinosaur' and of 'extinction' was known. This femur section of a carnivorous dinosaur was initially believed to be the petrified testicles of some biblical giant, or the remains of some elephant. In 1763 it was named as Scrotum Humanum by naturalist Richard Brookes.
Currently the fossil is lost. This 'replica' of the femur was made based on Plot's illustration and carved directly into soapstone, collected on top of a hill.
Interested in closing the cycle of this sculpture, Hernández and Salazar contacted LAAA to digitize it. This way the data can be brought back to were it all began: the internet.
3D registration with photogrammetry and web implementation by Francisco Regalado LAAA
Detail of the 3D data.
Scrotum humanum, plaque VIII, fig. 4. from the Natural History of Oxfordshire of Robert Plot, 1677.
Scrotum Humanum, 2019
Direct carving on soapstone
14 x 14 x 18 cm