
On August 12, 1990, fossil hunter Susan Hendrickson discovers three huge bones jutting out of a cliff near Faith, South Dakota. They turn out to be part of the largest-ever Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered, a 65 million-year-old specimen dubbed Sue, after its discoverer.
Amazingly, Sue’s skeleton was over 90 percent complete, and the bones were extremely well-preserved. Hendrickson’s employer, the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, paid $5,000 to the land owner, Maurice Williams, for the right to excavate the dinosaur skeleton, which was cleaned and transported to the company headquarters in Hill City. The institute’s president, Peter Larson, announced plans to build a non-profit museum to display Sue along with other fossils of the Cretaceous period.
Source:
history.com
Citation Information
Article Title
Skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex discovered
AuthorHistory.com Editors
Website Name
HISTORY
URL
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/skeleton-of-tyrannosaurus-rex-discovered
Access Date
August 11, 2021
Publisher
A&E Television Networks
Last Updated
August 10, 2021
Original Published Date
November 24, 2009
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