Paleontologists with the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture and the University of Washington have discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex, including a very complete skull. The find, which paleontologists estimate to be about 20 percent of the animal, includes vertebrae, ribs, hips and lower jaw bones.
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| The partially excavated skull of a T. rex discovered by Burke Museum paleontologists in Montana. The skull was preserved upside-down in the rock, and a black tooth from the T. rex's upper jaw can be seen protruding from the rock in the center of the photo [Credit: Burke Museum] |
Two Burke Museum paleontology volunteers, Jason Love and Luke Tufts, initially discovered pieces of fossilized bone protruding from a rocky hillside. The bones' large size and honeycomb-like structure indicated they belonged to a carnivorous dinosaur. Upon further excavation, the team discovered the T. rex skull along with ribs, vertebrae, and parts of the jaw and pelvis.
T. rex was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs to ever roam Earth. Measuring an average of 40-feet long and 15 to 20-feet tall, T. rex was a fierce predator with serrated teeth and large jaws. Fossil evidence shows it ate other dinosaurs like Edmontosaurus and Triceratops, with crushed bones from the animals even showing up in the its fossilized poop. T. rex lived about 66-68 million years ago in forested river valleys in western North America during the late Cretaceous Period.
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| A T. rex tooth discovered by Burke Museum paleontologists in Montana [Credit: Burke Museum] |
"We think the Tufts-Love Rex is going to be an iconic specimen for the Burke Museum and the state of Washington and will be a must-see for dinosaur researchers as well," said Wilson.
Based on the size of its skull, Burke paleontologists estimate this dinosaur is about 85 percent the size of the largest T. rex found to date. At the hips, the T. rex would have been nearly as tall as a city bus, and as long as a bus from tail to head.
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| Bone shards characteristic of a T. rex on the surface of a hill in the Hell Creek Formation in northern Montana [Credit: Burke Museum] |
Burke paleontologists could determine that the Tufts-Love Rex lived at the very end of the Cretaceous because it was found at the bottom of a hill; a rock layer at the top of that hill marks the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction. Based on the size of the skull -- a good indicator of T. rex age -- the team estimates the dinosaur was about 15 years old when it died. Adult T. rex lived up to 25-30 years.
Although arguably the most iconic and well-known dinosaur, T. rex fossils are rare. This remarkable find is one of only about 25 of this level of completeness. The skull is the 15th reasonably complete T. rex skull known to exist in the world. Next summer, Burke paleontologists will search for additional parts of the dinosaur at the site.
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| The back end (squamosal bone) of a T. rex skull discovered by Burke Museum paleontologists in Montana [Credit: Burke Museum] |
The project, currently led by Wilson, was founded by Jack Horner and Nathan Myhrvold. Burke paleontologists, volunteers, undergraduate and graduate students from the UW and other universities and K-12 educators participating in the Burke's DIG Field School contribute to the project.
"This is really great news. The Hell Creek Project is responsible for finding the most T. rex specimens in the world, with 11 to date," said Myhrvold, Intellectual Ventures CEO and Paleontologist. "The T. rex has always been my favorite dinosaur and I'm really pleased that this one is going to make its home at the Burke Museum."
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| Paleontologists prepare to remove a Tyrannosaurus rex skull from a fossil dig site in northern Montana and transport it to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington [Credit: Dave DeMar/Burke Museum/University of Washington] |
The T. rex skull and other bones are currently covered in a plaster jacket -- similar to a cast used to cover a broken bone -- in order to protect the skull during transport. The public can see the plaster-covered T. rex skull, along with other T. rex fossils and paleontology field tools, in a lobby display at the Burke Museum from August 20 to October 2. Special T. rex-themed activities will take place over Labor Day Weekend and on Sunday, September 25.
After removing the fossil from display, the Burke's paleontology team will begin preparing the fossil by removing the rock surrounding the bone, which may take a year or more. The museum plans to display the T. rex skull in the New Burke Museum when it opens in 2019.
Author: Andrea Godinez | Source: University of Washington [August 19, 2016]