SUE T. Rex will be de-installed from its spot at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History, and replaced with a Titanosaur display.
After serving as the Field Museum's main attraction since 2000, the world-famous Sue Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil will move to a new exhibition hall on the second floor. The largest dinosaur fossil ever found will take over Sue's place.
The dismantling of the iconic T. Rex fossil at the museum's Stanley Field Hall begins Monday, Feb. 5. Bones of the 40-feet long dinosaur skeleton will be off display until spring 2019 as the museum undergoes significant changes and improvements for its 125th anniversary this year.
"When SUE comes down at the end of the month, we will be making plans to bring in a cast of the largest dinosaur ever found," says Hilary Hansen, the Field's Exhibitions Department project manager.
"We are de-installing the most iconic T-Rex fossil in the world. We're moving SUE, bone by bone, into a brand-new exhibition on the second floor completely devoted to SUE. We'll start with the foot bones and the base. Then we'll move to the tail," Hansen said.
Get To Know SUE
SUE is the nickname given to dinosaur specimen PR2081, the largest and most complete T. Rex dinosaur remains discovered.
Named after paleontologist Sue Hendrickson, the carnivorous dinosaur's fossil was discovered at the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota on August 12, 1990.
Ninety-percent of SUE's skeletons was intact when it was found. It measures 40.5 feet from snout to tail and almost 13 feet tall at the hip.
SUE is known for its signature smile that exhibits 58 sharp, dagger-like teeth. However, the dinosaur skull on the SUE display is a replica. SUE's original skull that weighs 600 lbs. is in a separate display because it is the most studied part of the fossil.
During its time away from the public eye, SUE will undergo major improvements. Scientists will install parts of SUE's gastralia bones located at the ribs and will straighten out a leg to adjust the pose.
Highlights of the T. Rex moving can be followed on Twitter using the hashtag #SUEOnTheMove.
Spot For The Titanosaur
The new dinosaur fossil cast that will take SUE's display spot is a Patagotitan mayorum or a Titanosaur, the largest dinosaur ever discovered, measuring approximately 122-ft long and 22-ft tall.
Titanosaurs are gigantic, long-necked herbivores. Considered as the heavy-weight of all dinosaurs, researchers said the titanosaur would make the T.Rex look like small.
A group of paleontologists from the Egidio Feruglio Paleontology Museum unearthed the fossilized bones of the titanosaur in Argentina's Patagonia region in 2012.
The installation of the titanosaur's remains at the Field Museum was made possible by a $16.5 million donation from the Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund.
Flying reptiles, the hanging gardens with over a thousand live plants, and the titanosaur fosil will take over the museum's central hall.
