SUE, STAN & Friends were in town…

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DINOSAURS! A T. rex named SUE and Friends were in town…

Introduction

Dinosaurs have always been an interesting topic (fact or fiction) to almost everyone regardless of their age. Dinosaur exhibitions never failed to excite, especially the young ones. For both my sons (Varunesh 6 and Luvnesh 3) dinosaurs are a part of their daily life, they have a collection of over 500 dinosaur toys (big and small), many dinosaur books, documentaries and movies. Both of them even know the names of some of the dinosaurs by heart, those even my wife and me having trouble remembering, leave alone pronouncing it right. The news about DINOSAURS! A T. rex named SUE and Friends exhibition is like dream come true for us and we (the whole family) never missed this rare opportunity. We visited the exhibition 3 times and enjoyed every single minute we were there to the fullest.

DINOSAURS! A T. rex named SUE and Friends – a first of its kind exhibition jointly organized by The Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, together with the Singapore Science Centre opened for public since 20 May 2006 and just ended on 20 August 2006.

The main attraction of this exhibition was none else then SUE, the single largest, most complete, and best preserved T. rex fossil yet discovered. Not only that, STAN was there too, STAN is the second most complete T. rex skeleton unearthed to-date. A unique opportunity to see two of the world’s most complete T. rex specimens up close and personal.

The exhibition

SUE was surely the stunner. I still remember my sons’ expression during our first face-to-face encounter with SUE (during our first visit to the exhibition), for a few seconds both my sons were stunned and I heard my elder son said “Wow, Appa, SUE is so big” while still looking up toward those massive bones.

The exhibition undoubtedly is a journey back in time, over 67 million years ago to the time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. The experience started with the life in the late Cretaceous period with SUE a T. rex almost 13 meters in length. It was a rare chance to examine from a close proximity her gigantic size, enormous leg bones, very large rib cage, the massive skull and her terrifying razor-sharp teeth. Next to SUE we found STAN a 12.2 meter long fossil remains of the world’s second most complete T. rex.

From the story of SUE and STAN, we went on to another section of the exhibition called the Dinosaurs of Darkness. The Dinosaurs of Darkness is about the world of polar paleontology and the fascinating world of polar dinosaurs.

Next we had an opportunity to discover how dinosaurs are related to our modern-day birds. Here we learned interesting facts about paleontology, evolution, extinction and conservation. There were many interesting display of fossil remains and models including a life-sized model of a Dodo bird.

The last section of the exhibition was the fun filled sandpit for mini-digs and interactive displays. Both my sons loved the sandpit, imagining themselves being the paleontologists digging the fossils.

About SUE

Why SUE for a name? Well, this T. rex fossil specimen was named after its discoverer, Sue Hendrickson who found this fossil in 1990. It is believed that SUE might have died during the late Cretaceous period (around 67 million years ago). To-date SUE is considered the world’s largest, best-preserved and most complete T. rex fossil yet discovered.

Summary of my research on SUE:
Species: Tyrannosaurus rex - Latin for “tyrant lizard king”
Earth period: Late Cretaceous, around 67 million years ago
Discovered: August 12, 1990, in South Dakota USA by fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson
Length: 12.8 meters long from head to tail
Height at hips: 4.0 meters
Estimated live weight: 6.4 metric tons
The skull: 272 kg in weight and 1.5 meters in length
Teeth: a total 58 very large teeth, ranging from 19.05 to 30.5 cm in length.
Sex: Unknown

How much SUE? In 1997 SUE was bought by The Field Museum in Chicago for a staggering US$8.4 million (the most money ever paid for a dinosaur fossil) with a unique partnership with McDonald’s Corporation and the Walt Disney World Resort.

A few theories surrounding SUE that interests me:

1. Is SUE a female T. rex?
Paleontologists and scientists don’t actually know if this T. rex was male or female. But, according to Sue Hendrickson, SUE was a mother who died defending her family and here is why she thinks so:

• A special type of mineral deposit discovered during SUE’s excavation was a mineral type found only when dinosaurs were laying eggs.
• There were tiny bones of baby T. rex found among SUE’s bones, argued to be SUE’s own babies.

But, not everyone agrees with Sue’s theory.

2. Are those bite marks left by another dinosaur?
Observing SUE’s jaw bone carefully you could notice a few holes. These holes believed to be caused by another dinosaur which might have bitten SUE (this theory is in line with the theory that SUE defended her family).

• But according to paleontologists and scientists who researched SUE, these holes in SUE’s jaw do not match the teeth of any creature able to bite a T. rex.
• Bite marks usually have rough edges and cracks but the edges of the holes in SUE’s jaw bone are smooth.

Because of that this theory remains a rejected theory.

About STAN

STAN is a large T. rex discovered near Buffalo, South Dakota, USA in 1987. STAN was named after the amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison who discovered the fossil remains of this T. rex specimen. STAN is believed to have died during the late Cretaceous (around 65 million years ago). About 65% of STAN’s skeleton fossil has been uncovered, making it the second most complete T. rex fossil uncovered to-date.

Summary of my research on STAN:
Species: Tyrannosaurus rex - Latin for “tyrant lizard king”
Earth period: Late Cretaceous, around 65 million years ago
Discovered: 1987, in South Dakota USA by amateur paleontologist Stan Sacrison
Length: 12.2 meters long from head to tail
Height at hips: 3.6 meters
Estimated live weight: 5.4 metric tons
Sex: Unknown

STAN’s original bones are now displayed in the Black Hills Museum of Natural History Exhibit in Hill City, South Dakota, USA.

A few theories surrounding STAN that interests me:

• STAN’s bones suggest that it sustained many injuries during his life time, include broken ribs and a broken neck.
• There is also a hole about the size of a T. rex’s tooth at the back of its head. This suggests that STAN probably had fought many battles during his life time.

Conclusion

A very special thank you to The Faculty of Science of NUS, The Singapore Science Centre and all the other sponsors who joint hands in bringing the unique experience of DINOSAURS! A T. rex named SUE and Friends to Singapore. It is worth noting that this was not only the first time SUE was displayed in Singapore but, this was the first time ever for SUE in Southeast Asia. The exhibition as a whole was very well planned with rich educational touch to every exhibit showcased that provided a rare opportunity to learn more about these magnificent prehistoric creatures.

It is very sad that irresponsible fossil hunters are scavenging, stealing and poaching these priceless fossils and prehistoric heritage all over the world fueled by sophisticated network of black market for dinosaur fossils. Large collection of these priceless treasures disappears into private collections of irresponsible collectors and gone forever, only a very small fraction of these fossils eventually make it to museums.

Through this exhibition The Faculty of Science of NUS, The Singapore Science Centre and all the other sponsors expressed their commitment and involvement in the effort towards of preservation and conservation of these priceless fossils treasure for the generations to come. Congratulations.

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