Tyrannosaurus rex:
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History's Newest Dinosaur
Now on Permanent Exhibit
Location: Kirtland Hall of Prehistoric Life
Tyrannosaurus rex, the world's most famous dinosaur, is the newest addition to The Cleveland Museum of Natural History's permanent exhibits in Kirtland Hall of Prehistoric Life. This mount is a replica of one of the most complete fossil specimens of this dinosaur species in the world.
Meet T. rex
T. rex began capturing people's imaginations even before the first mounted specimen went on public display at the American Museum of Natural History in 1915. This was thanks in part to a 1906 painting that Charles R. Knight, the 20th century's master painter of prehistoric life, created for AMNH of the dinosaur approaching a group of Triceratops.
And who wouldn't be fascinated by the idea of a towering dinosaur with a giant head and gaping mouthful of curved, nearly footlong teeth? For more than a century, T. rex has epitomized the predatory dinosaur.
T. rex flourished between 65 million and 68 million years ago, at the tail end of the Late Cretaceous period. Based on the specimens they have found, paleontologists estimate that an adult T. rex was about 18 feet tall and 46 feet long, and weighed about 11,000 pounds. Its skull was 4 to 5 feet long.
T. rex took about 13 to 19 years to reach full size. To support its rapid growth, a teenage T. rex would have needed 350 to 1,000 pounds of meat a week, the equivalent of a whole cow.
The bite of an adult T. rex carried about 3,000 pounds of force. Comparatively, a human has up to 175 pounds of bite force and an alligator (the strongest bite force of any living animal) up to 2,125 pounds.
There has been debate over whether T. rex was a predator or scavenger. From what we know about typical carnivore behavior, it was probably both.
About this T. rex
Paleontologists have discovered and excavated only about 20 T. rexes, all of them from North America in Texas, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Rancher Kathy Wankel discovered the original specimen of this T. rex in 1988 in the badlands of eastern Montana while out on a walk.
She brought the find to the attention of Jack Horner, curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies (MOR) in Bozeman, Montana. He led a crew that excavated the site in 1989 and 1990.
The bones of this specimen were prepared between 1991 and 1993 and are now on display at MOR. The original mount is nearly 90 percent complete and includes the first intact forelimb of a T. rex ever found.
The Museum's cast was created by Research Casting International, based in Ontario, Canada. Its purchase was made possible by a grant from the Bicknell Fund.
T. rex and Triceratops Face Off
T. rex needed a lot of meat to stay well-fed. Triceratops, another large dinosaur living at the end of the Late Cretaceous Period, would have been a good source of food.
But taking on a Triceratops was no easy task. These herbivores were armed with lance-like horns and protected by a bony skull frill.
The battles that surely went on between these titans are revisited in the Museum's Kirtland Hall dinosaur display. The new T. rex cast has been mounted as if it were facing off against the Triceratops cast the Museum acquired in 2007 with a grant from the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation. It is a display unlike any other in the world.
Related Event
Dino Day!
Saturday, December 20, 2008, noon to 4 pm
Help us welcome the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, to the Museum's permanent collection. To celebrate, the Museum will host Dino Day on Saturday, December 20, from noon to 4 pm. The event is free with Museum admission.
Dino Day Activities Throughout the Day Include:
• Paleontologist Vest Craft
• Dinosaur Doorknob Hanger Craft in the Discovery Center
• Dinosaur Scavenger Hunt/Bingo – Complete to receive a Dinosaur Stencil!
• Bring your camera to take a photo with a Museum dinosaur character
• Hands-on-experience with bones and fossils
• Vertebrate Paleontology display of dinosaur fossil casts and Q&A
Also Enjoy:
• Planetarium Shows for $4 at 10:30, 11:30 am and 12:30, 2, 3, and 4 pm
• Live Animal Shows: "Raptor Show" and "Dinosaur Descendents;" 1 and 3 pm
• "Build-a-Beast" in Murch Auditorium; 12:30 and 3:30 pm
• T. rex Roaring Contest – Participants must register in advance
• T. rex balloon figures with Swifty the Clown; 12:30 to 3:30 pm
• Meet a Dino Hunter: Darin Croft, Research Associate at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, CWRU, at 1:30 pm