Skeleton of T rex joins museum’s collection
One of only three pregnant Tyrannosaurus rex (T rex) skeletons ever found can now be seen by the public for the first time at Auckland Museum.
Barbara will be joining Peter, one of the most complete fossils of the iconic dinosaur ever found – making the pair the first adult male and female T rex to be displayed together.
She was discovered in the Hell Creek Formation in northeastern Montana, United States, buried in sediment dating back 66 million years.
The skeleton will be on loan to the museum, donated by the same anonymous person also loaning Peter.
It’s understood that Peter was named after a member of the lender’s family. The lending and value of the skeletons – which could run into the tens of millions – suggest they belong to a wealthy donor, with a very strong connection to New Zealand.
With 44.7% of her bones found, Barbara is the eighth-most complete T rex discovered. A pathologic study showed that she was almost certainly carrying eggs or young when she died.
Adding to her uniqueness, studies reveal that she had suffered a severe foot injury, which would have drastically affected her ability to hunt. The
study theorised that despite fully healing, Barbara would have been left with a limp and had to rely on being fed by the pack, or scavenging, to eat.
The high proportion of bones recovered helped people to understand the sheer scale of a T rex, Auckland Museum chief executive Dr David Gaimster said.
‘‘Peter really activated our audience ... three out of four visitors to Auckland Museum say they’ve come here because of him.’’
T rex skeletons are worth tens of million of dollars. In 2020, one sold for US$38.1 million (NZ$45m) at Christie’s in New York.