Mounted Tyrannosaurus rex Skeleton  A Spectacular Example of the Tyrant Lizard King

Tyrannosaurus rex

Cretaceous

Hell Creek Formation, Montana

Tyrannosaurus rex is undoubtedly the prehistoric species that most readily captures the attention of our own species, which has existed on this planet for only about two hundred thousand years. Dinosaurs reigned on Earth for 150 million years and it is perhaps this longevity, as well as the magnificent variety of these creatures, that most engages our imagination. Could Henry Fairfield Osborn (the paleontologist who named the species in 1905) have known that more than a century later we would still regard Tyrannosaurus rex, translated as Tyrant Lizard King, as the monarch of all paleontological treasures?



In life, the present Tyrannosaurus rex was tall enough to have looked into a second story window. Her massive skull and powerful serrated teeth could have bitten through the leg bone of any contemporary dinosaur. Most likely a very skilled hunter with binocular color vision and an extremely sensitive sense of smell, this colossus, like others adults of her species, lived as an apex predator of the Late Cretaceous Period.



The present specimen was discovered on a private ranch in Garfield County, Montana, in the summer of 2012. Over the course of several months the site was excavated and the bones were carefully removed in plaster jackets from the field to the laboratory. Over the following year thousands of hours were spent in meticulous cataloging of the bone count and laborious preparation. From a second site, more Tyrannosaurus rex bones appeared and it become evident that it was possible to composed a skeleton from the two separate finds. The custom steel mounting displays this awe-inspiring animal in an aggressive attack pose, presenting its massive skull as a killing weapon. Approximately 40% of an original skeleton is represented in this specimen. The skull comprises approximately 30% original bone.

Length measures 38 feet; Height measures12 feet



Saleroom notices