Specimens of Tyrannosaurus Pt. 2
"B-rex": MOR 1125: This specimen was found in the lower portion of the Hell Creek Formation near Fort Peck Lake in the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Garfield County, Montana. Its discoverer was Bob Harmon, a fossil preparator for the Museum of the Rockies, and was nicknamed the "B-rex" (or "Bob-rex") in honor of Harmon. The specimen was discovered in 2000, and excavated by MOR from 2001 to 2003. Although only 37 percent of the skeleton was present, this included almost all of the skull (although the skull was nearly completely disarticulated). The specimen also includes several cervical, dorsal, sacral, and caudal vertebrae; several chevrons; some cervical and dorsal ribs; left scapula and coracoid; the furcula; the left ulna; both femora, tibiae, and ulnae; the right calcaneum; right astragalus; and a number of pes phalanges.
Femur of MOR 1125 from which demineralized matrix and peptides (insets) were obtained. In the March 2005 Science magazine, Mary Higby Schweitzer of North Carolina State University and colleagues announced the recovery of soft tissue from the marrow cavity of a fossilized femur belonging to B-Rex. Flexible, bifurcating blood vessels and fibrous but elastic bone matrix tissue were recognized. In addition, microstructures resembling blood cells were found inside the matrix and vessels. The structures bear a resemblance to ostrich blood cells and vessels. However, since an unknown process distinct from normal fossilization seems to have preserved the material, the researchers are being careful not to claim that it is original material from the dinosaur. Paleontologist Thomas Kaye of the University of Washington in Seattle hypothesized that the soft tissue is a permineralized biofilm created by bacteria while digesting and breaking down the original specimen. He has discovered this to be true in many specimens from the same area. In 2016, it was finally confirmed by Mary Higby Schweitzer and Lindsay Zanno et al that the soft tissue was medullary bone tissue, like that in modern birds when they are readying to lay eggs. This confirmed the identity of the Tyrannosaurus MOR 1125 as a female.
"Samson": A T. rex specimen was discovered on private land in Harding County, South Dakota, once in 1981 by Michael and Dee Zimmerschied, and again on 4 October 1992 (Alan and Robert Detrich re-discovered Samson after it was originally found and deemed by paleontologists that several bones had washed in and there was nothing left). It was shortly after that when Fred Nuss and Candace Nuss of Nuss Fossils with the Detrich brothers found the most complete and undistorted Tyrannosaurus rex skull ever discovered. Following the sale of "Sue," another Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, the specimen was put up for auction on eBay in 2000 under the name of "Z-rex", with an asking price of over US$8 million. It failed to sell online but was purchased for an undisclosed price in 2001 by British millionaire Graham Ferguson Lacey, who renamed the skeleton "Samson" after the Biblical figure of the same name.[citation needed] It was prepared by the Carnegie Museum starting in May 2004. After preparation was complete in March 2006, the specimen was returned to Lacey. It, along with some other dinosaur skeletons, was sold again at auction on 3 October 2009.
Samson measured 11.9 m (39 ft), only slightly shorter than Sue.
"Baby Bob": On 7 July 2013, fossil hunter Robert Detrich of Wichita, Kansas, unearthed the remains of what is believed to be a 4-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex. Detrich unearthed the fossil dubbed "Baby Bob" in a fossil-rich area near the Eastern Montana town of Jordan. Its femur measures about 25 inches, and if all the preliminary data pans out, that would make it among the smallest T. rex specimens ever found. Baby Bob has been fully excavated, although it will take another year to clean. Detrich said the skull, which is about 75 percent complete, and most of the major skeletal elements were found strewn across a flood plain, although very few vertebrae and ribs were found.
Specimen Number: Private
Name: "Baby Bob"
Completeness: 20%
Discovery: 2013
City: Wichita
Discoverer: Robert (Bob) Detrich
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Jordan, Montana
Notes: A juvenile or baby specimen. The discoverers have stated its age to be 4 years based on histology. An attempt was made to sell the specimen on eBay.
"Scotty": RSM P2523.8: "Scotty", cataloged as RSM P2523.8, was discovered in Saskatchewan, Canada in 1991. Since its discovery and extensive subsequent study, "Scotty" has been referred to as the largest T. rex ever discovered in the world, the largest of any dinosaur discovered in Canada, and as one of the oldest and most complete fossils of its kind at more than 70% bulk. "Scotty" resides at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum's T. rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, SK, Canada. In May 2019, a second mount was erected at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina, where the exhibit reflects the recent discoveries about the fossil.
"Scotty" was discovered by Robert Gebhardt, a high school principal from Eastend, SK who accompanied paleontologists from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum on a prospective expedition into the Frenchman Formation in southwestern Saskatchewan on 16 August 1991. It wasn't until June 1994 that the Royal Saskatchewan Museum was able to begin the excavation, which was led and overseen by the Museum's Ron Borden, as well as resident paleontologists Tim Tokaryk and John Storer who were with Gebhardt when he uncovered the first fossils. The bones were deeply packed in dense, iron-laden sandstone, and it took more than twenty years for the team to fully remove, excavate, and assemble the majority of the skeleton, with additional trips being made to the site to retrieve smaller bones and teeth. The entire process of excavating the skeleton was also slowed down by its considerable size.
"Scotty" is reported to be 13 meters (43 feet) long and weighed an estimated 8.8 tonnes (8,800 kg). Despite it not being a complete fossil, paleontologists were able to create the estimation for the weight and length through measurements of important weight-bearing bones such as the femur, hip, and shoulder bones that have all been measured to be larger and thicker with "Scotty" than the corresponding bones with "Sue". Going from the latest study "Scotty" exceeds "Sue" in 84.6% of the published measurements. While the reported measurements and weight for "Scotty" are larger than those of "Sue", some scientists posit that the two fossils are too close in size to officially declare "Scotty" the largest.
Like other T. rex fossils, "Scotty" shows signs of trichomoniasis, a parasitic infection in the jaw that left visible holes in the bone and was unique to this specific species of dinosaur. Additionally, a broken and healed rib on its right side, a broken tail vertebra, as well as a hole near the eye socket are possibly the result of another T. rex attack. Other abnormalities, such as impacted teeth, suggest that "Scotty" was not only bitten but also bit other animals.
Specimen Number: RSM 2523.8
Name: "Scotty"
Completeness: 70-75%
Discovery: 1991
Museum: Royal Saskatchewan Museum
Museum City: Eastend
Discoverer: Tim Tokaryk, Robert Gebhardt, and John Storer
Formation: Frenchman Formation
Location: Saskatchewan
Notes: Proposed to be the largest known specimen, scientific consensus has not yet been reached. Exceeds "Sue" in 84.6% of the published bone measurements. Has been estimated to be larger than "Sue" in two published studies.
"Tristan": Commercial paleontologist Craig Pfister discovered the specimen in the lower Hell Creek Formation in Carter County, Montana, in 2010. Its excavation and preservation lasted four years. It was later sold to Danish-born investment banker Niels Nielsen, who loaned the specimen to the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany, for research and exhibition. It has been on display at Museum für Naturkunde between 2015 and 2020, moving to the Natural History Museum of Denmark for one year, and expected back in 2021. Nielsen and his friend Jens Jensen named the specimen Tristan-Otto (short: Tristan) for their sons. The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin lists it under specimen number MB.R.91216. Several European museums have Tyrannosaurus casts (replicas) or parts, but Tristan is one of only two original skeletons on display in the continent (the other is "Trix" in the Netherlands). The matte-black fossilized skeleton is about 12 m (39 ft) long and 3.4 m (11 ft) tall at the hips. Tristan is among the most complete known Tyrannosaurus skeletons: It was reassembled from about 300 separate parts, 170 of which are original (including 98% of the skull and all the teeth), the rest reproductions. It is estimated to have died when about 20 years old and it was in poor health, having several bone fractures, bite marks to the skull, and signs of disease in the jaw. The disease present in Tristan's jaw was suggested to be a case of tumefactive osteomyelitis.
Specimen Number: MB.R.91216
Name: "Tristan"
Completeness: 57%
Discovery: 2010
Museum: Natural History Museum of Denmark
Museum City: Copenhagen
Discoverer: Craig Pfister
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Carter County, Montana
Notes: Inventory number attributed by the Natural History Museum, Berlin, although the specimen belongs to a private collector.
"Thomas:" This specimen has my namesake and I see him every time I go to the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. From 2003 to 2005, Thomas was excavated by NHMLA paleontologists in southeastern Montana. At 17 years old, 34 ft (10 m) long, and nearly 7,000 lb (3,200 kg), it is estimated to be a 70% complete specimen. Thomas is mounted in a "growth series" with the youngest-known Tyrannosaurus rex fossil, a two-year-old, 11-foot-long (3.4 m) specimen, and a 13-year-old, 20-foot-long (6.1 m) juvenile specimen.
This fossil is one of the geologically youngest T. rex specimens known, discovered very near the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary.
Specimen Number: LACM 150167
Name: "Thomas"
Completeness: 70%
Discovery: 2003
Museum: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Museum City: Los Angeles
Discoverer: Luis M. Chiappe
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Montana
"Victoria": Victoria is a specimen found near Faith, South Dakota in 2013.
Victoria is estimated to be around 12 ft tall and 40 ft long, and she is thought to have died in her thirties. Victoria has also been the subject of a traveling exhibition being displayed in places such as the Arizona Science Center. Her cause of death is unknown; however, she was believed to have been bitten in the lower jaw by another Tyrannosaurus. The bite may have become infected, spreading and leading to sepsis.
"Ivan": Ivan is a 65% complete T. rex displayed at the Museum of World Treasures in Wichita, Kansas. The specimen has the most complete tail of any T. rex, only missing around 3 vertebrae. Ivan is around 40 ft long and 12 feet high.
"Trix": In 2013, a team of paleontologists from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center (Leiden, Netherlands) traveled to Montana where they discovered and unearthed a large and remarkably complete Tyrannosaurus rex specimen that lived 67 million years ago. Black Hills Institute collaborated with the team in the excavation. The bones were cleaned and assembled in a mount at Black Hills Institute's installations, with the help of both Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History and the Naturalis Museum in Leiden. Chicago's Field Museum sent digital models of their famous specimen, FMNH PR 2081 (Sue) to complete the cast and Naturalis Museum replicated the bones using 3D-printing technology.
The specimen was named Trix after former Netherlands' Queen Beatrix. Upon arrival in the Netherlands, it started touring on public display in an itinerant exhibition titled T. rex in Town. The first exhibit spanned from 10 September 2016 to 5 June 2017 and was set in the only room of the Naturalis Museum open to the public at the time (the 17th-century building known as Pesthuis), because the museum was undergoing restoration. When the Netherlands exhibition ended, it continued traveling through other European countries in 2017, 2018, and 2019. As of August 2019, Trix was returned to display at the Naturalis Museum where it is installed in a special room that was under construction during Trix's European tour.
According to Peter Larson (director of Black Hills Institute), Trix is among the most complete Tyrannosaurus found. Between 75% and 80% of its skeletal volume was recovered. They are thought to have been at least 30 years old at death.
Specimen Number: RGM 792.000
Name: "Trix"
Completeness: 75-80%
Discovery: 2013
Museum: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Museum City: Leiden
Discoverer: Naturalis Biodiversity Center/Black Hills Institute
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Montana
Notes: One of the largest known specimens that is also well preserved. Has been stated to be the oldest known specimen but this has not been confirmed.
"Titus": "Titus" is the name given to an obsidian-black skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex discovered in Montana's Hell Creek Formation in 2014 and excavated in 2018. It is 20% complete and was named after the protagonist in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Exhibited in the Nottingham Natural History Museum for 13 months beginning July 2021, it was during that time only the second specimen of Tyrannosaurus to be on exhibit in the United Kingdom, the other being the type of the junior synonym Dynamosaurus imperosus which has the jaw on display in the Natural History Museum, London. External bone inspection has revealed injuries to Titus' right tibia (possibly a claw or bite wound); a deformed toe on the right foot; and a bitten and healed tail. The bite wound near the end of the tail indicates a possible attack by another Tyrannosaurus rex.
The remains of "Titus" were discovered in September 2014 by commercial paleontologist Craig Pfister near Ekalaka, Carter County, Montana.[106] Excavation of the specimen began in 2018 and took 18 months. The bones of "Titus" were shipped to conservationist Nigel Larkin in the UK, who constructed the mount using a cast of the Tyrannosaurus specimen Stan to supplement the known bones of "Titus", after scanning the bones using photogrammetry to create digital models that were 3D printed for use in the exhibition, alongside the display of the real fossil skeleton, and which remained at the museum after the end of the exhibition. For the exhibit at the Nottingham Natural History Museum at Wollaton Hall, Titus was reconstructed "in a walking mode, perhaps searching for prey or returning home after a hunt."
Specimen Number: Private
Name: "Titus"
Completeness: 20%
Discovery: 2014
City: Nottingham
Discoverer: Craig Pfister
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Montana
Notes: The specimen belongs to a private collector, but 3D-printed replicas of the bones are accessioned in the Nottingham Natural History Museum collection under the number NCMG 2021-7.
"Tufts-Love": UWBM 99000: In 2016 Greg Wilson, David DeMar, and a paleontology team from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, the University of Washington, and the Dig Field school excavated the partial remains of a Tyrannosaurus rex from Montana. The partial skeleton was found by two Burke Museum volunteers, Jason Love and Luke Tufts, and was named the "Tufts-Love" rex. Paleontologists at the Burke Museum believe that the Tufts-Love rex was around 15 years old when it died. The skull is of average size for an adult T. rex. The specimen was found in Late Cretaceous deposits and it is estimated to be 66.3 million years old. The Tufts-Love rex is undergoing preparation by Michael Holland and his team at the Burke Museum. The skeleton is estimated to be 30% complete, but it includes a complete (all of the bones of the skull and jaws are preserved) and mostly articulated skull. Holland describes the skull as minimally distorted and in an "exquisite" state of preservation.
Specimen Number: UWBM 99000
Name: "Tufts-Love"
Completeness: 30%
Discovery: 2016
Museum: Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Museum City: Seattle
Discoverer: Jason Love and Luke Tufts
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Montana
"Peter": AWMM-IL 2022.9: Peter is the nickname given to a specimen on loan to the Auckland War Memorial Museum by an anonymous owner, currently on display alongside "Barbara" until the end of 2023. The specimen is estimated to be 66.8 million years old and almost adult-size. He was recovered from Niobrara County, Wyoming.
"Peter" is one of only four incredibly rare and visually stunning obsidian black-colored tyrannosaurus rex.
He was likely killed by exocannibalism as entire sections of bone were damaged, and some were split open by huge crushing bite forces. The nature of the crushing on the femur and tibia, along with the size of the bite marks, indicates that these bones were bitten through by another Tyrannosaurus rex. There is also a set of smaller, parallel tooth marks nearby on the shaft that are not attributable to an adult T. rex. Explanations for this behavior range from response to overcrowded populations, limited food supply, sexual dominance, or even play.
Specimen Number: AWMM-IL 2022.9
Name: "Peter"
Completeness: 47%
Discovery: 2018
Museum: Auckland War Memorial Museum
Museum City: Auckland
Discoverer: Dick Willis
Formation: Lance Formation
Location: Wyoming
"Barbara": AWMM-IL 2022.21: Barbara is the nickname given to a specimen on loan to the Auckland War Memorial Museum by the same anonymous owner as "Peter", currently on display alongside him until the end of 2023. The pair will be the first adult male and female T rex to be displayed together. She is one of a few specimens believed to be pregnant.
"Barbara's" circumstances are particularly rare, more so when taking into account that she suffered and survived long after a debilitating foot injury. While she was no longer able to capture her own prey it is suggested that she got by with the help of a mate or cohort feeding her, as the injury would have rendered her immobile for upwards of 6 months. This is vaguely supported by trackway evidence that has been used to imply tyrannosaur group hunting. It is doubtful that 'Barbara' ever successfully hunted again as a predator unless its prey was nearby.
Specimen Number: AWMM-IL 2022.21
Name: "Barbara"
Completeness: 44.7%
Discovery: 2005
Museum: Auckland War Memorial Museum
Museum City: Auckland
Discoverer: Bob Harmon
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Montana
"Dueling Dinosaurs" T. rex: This specimen, considered the most complete of any Tyrannosaurus specimen at more than 98% preservation, was discovered in Montana in 2006. Following years of unsuccessful attempts to sell it to museums or auction it off, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences started negotiations in 2016, which were prolonged due to a legal battle over the rights to the fossil, which was resolved in 2020. The fossils are set to be displayed by the NC Museum in 2023. The Dueling Dinosaurs T. rex is an adolescent that was preserved entangled with a Triceratops. Given the injuries present on both fossils, it has been theorized that both died while fighting one another. The specimen has not yet been properly studied due to its recent acquisition by science. However, important biological data is likely preserved with the specimen, including body outlines, skin impressions, soft tissues, injuries, stomach contents, and even original proteins.
Specimen Number: Private?
Name: "Dueling Dinosaurs"
Completeness: 98%
Discovery: 2006
Museum: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Museum City: Raleigh
Discoverer: Clayton Phipps, Mark Eatman, & Chad O'Connor
Formation: Hell Creek Formation
Location: Montana
Notes: Currently the most complete specimen known to science, an adolescent preserved entangled with a Triceratops. Like Jane, a minority of paleontologists consider it a different taxon.
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