Be very afraid... the tartan T-rex is in town
BRITONS now have the rare chance to see a real T-rex skeleton – but you probably won’t get quite as close as this chap.
The five-ton fossil was unpacked by experts in Glasgow yesterday, including one pictured appearing to wear its skull as a hat.
The Tryannosaurus rex will go on display in a climate-controlled pavilion as part of a european tour.
One of only three intact T-rexes in the world, it is believed to be the first to come to the UK.
Named Trix, the 39ft female weighs the same as four Mini Coopers. Her fearsome jaws are lined with
‘Impressive, if slightly scary’
more than 50 banana- sized teeth which were once able to hack off 200lbs of flesh in a single bite.
She began her tour in September 2016 and has visited Salzburg, Barcelona, Paris and Lisbon while her permanent home at the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in Holland is finished.
Once this happens, it is unlikely that she will go on such a tour again.
The T-rex – whose name translates as ‘king of the tyrant lizards’ – lived in the Cretaceous period between 85million and 65million years ago in what is now the US and Canada, and could run at speeds of up to 13mph.
Steph Scholten, of the Hunterian museum, which organised the Glasgow exhibition, said it ‘offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience for visitors to come face-toface with a real T-rex and learn about her life’.
Trix was discovered in Montana and will be exhibited across the road from the famous diplodocus sculpture dippy – which was on display in London’s Natural History Museum from 1905 to 2017 before moving north of the border. City councillor david Mcdonald said: ‘I am really excited to see this impressive, if slightly scary, creature take shape before my eyes.’
Trix will be on display from Thursday until July 31 at the University of Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall.