T-Rex takes on Berlin
Over the coming months, scientists will assemble an unusually well-preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in Berlin's Museum of Natural History. Dinosaur Tristan is roughly 66 million years old.
Unwrapping a giant's head
On Monday, the Berlin Naturkundemuseum (Museum of Natural History) unveiled the T-Rex skull to the public. This first piece of the 13-meter-long skeleton measures 1.5 meters alone.
Assembling Tristan
Tristan's skeleton was found in the US state of Montana, and an anonymous patron donated it to the Berlin Museum of Natural History. Starting in December, Tristan will be on display for three years for the public to marvel at. But first, experts must examine and painstakingly assemble the skeleton.
Prehistoric giant
A team of archeologists is traveling to the place where Tristan was found to do some more digging and learn more about this beast that lived 70 million years ago.
Voracious appetite
This Tyrannosaurus skull is a little smaller than Tristan's. Still, the size comparison shows that mammals the size of humans would merely be a palate cleanser for the huge dinosaur. Despite what "Jurassic Park" wants us to believe, there are doubts about the T-Rex's hunting skills: he couldn't grab prey with his tiny arms and he didn't have fangs either. Maybe he was a scavenger?
Solving the mystery with X-rays
The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits recently exampled a different T-Rex skull that could hold the key many lingering questions. Fraunhofer researchers created a tomographical reconstruction of a fossilized skull at the Development Center for X-ray technology. The large CT machine was originally developed for scanning shipping containers.
Scientific teamwork
The T-Rex scanned at the Fraunhofer Institute was also found in Montana, just like Tristan. It's one of the best-preserved skulls of this species ever discovered. The Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands provided paleontology expertise and the Fraunhofer Institute offered up its scanner and will work on data processing.
The bare bones version
When it's down the bones, the dinosaur doesn't look as scary anymore. Packaging and calcareous deposits were deleted from this picture, and only the skull remains. The scan can also make smallest tears visible, so the reconstruction team knows where to pay special attention. Missing parts can be modeled on the computer and printed on a 3D-printer to complete the skeleton.
Inner values
Michael Böhnel, one of the researchers, shows the three-dimensional picture of the skull. The paleontologists are especially interested in the inner structure of the skull, such as where the brain sat. Now they can examine it without having to crack the skull open.
Copies for everyone?
If you scan dinosaur skeletons, it's also possible to print as many copies of the original as you want. But with the size of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, printing would take a very long time - and it wouldn't be cheap, either. Besides, nothing can top the original. This T-Rex was on display during the Mineral Days in Munich in 2014.
Big day for dinosaur fans
Berlin's moment will come in December. Big and small fans of dragons, dinosaurs and reptiles have been excited for this moment for a long time. They'll be very excited when Tristan will finally be presented to the public.