Trix the T-Rex

[Max-fossils]

Hello fellow fossil enthusiasts,

 

I should have posted this a long time ago, in fact I should have done it when I got home from the visit, but I guess I forgot... So here it is, with about 2 months of delay.

 

So that day I went to the Naturalis museum in Leiden, Netherlands. I went there for a special reason: to see a record-holding fossil! And this legend is nothing less than Trix, the mighty T-Rex. What is special with Trix is that it's the only T-Rex fossil to be in a museum outside of America. 

Here is the story behind the beast: a couple were hiking in Montana, when they saw a big brown bone sticking out of the ground. They quickly contacted the Black Hills Institute, which acknowledged the find to be of a T-Rex. They contacted several museums to see who would be willing to dig it out, having quite a few denials, when they contacted Naturalis. Our Dutch museum jumped on the opportunity. But knowing that they didn't have the money to dig all of that out, they asked the public to donate money to them. I was one of the many donators, and gave 10$. With all the donations, and after about 2 years of work, the team managed to bring the beast home. It was a 12 m long female Tyrannosaurus rex, and they found around 80% of the skeleton!!! Thanks to this, the Naturalis is now one of the most important European museums, if not the world. Trix has already attracted a few millions of tourists, and even other museums; in fact it's soon going to Barcelona to be shown to the public there. 

 

Here are some photos that I took. At first, before seeing the actual showpiece, there was a hall with moving dinosaurs that co-habited with Trix. Seems like some of the chickens lost their feathers .

Luckily not all chickens were naked.

But the giant chicken had also forgotten to put his clothes on, and as you can see the ankykosaur wasn't much impressed 

 

Unfortunately this trike did not escape the giant naked chicken...

[Max-fossils]

Finally, here is the thing we have all been waiting for: Trix. 

 

[Max-fossils]

This diagram here shows you how complete the fossil is. Yellow means original fossil; blue means mirrored from opposite fossil; white means castes based upon other specimens. Only 2 of the teeth have been found, which is quite a shame.

 

After having admired this incredible fossil, I had some nice chats with some of the paleontologists there, including a young paleontologist that was planning a trip to China in order to learn more about Giganthopithecus, aka the yeti. I learnt a lot that day, and it was a very enjoyable outing.

 

That's it! I hope you enjoyed reading this report and learning more about this fascinating beast. 

Thanks for reading.

 

Best regards,

 

Max

 

PS: the Naturalis team is currently back in Montana, this time digging up a big trike!

[Fossildude19]

Max, 

 

You might find it interesting that the couple who found it are members here.  

 

We Found a T-Rex.

 

Thanks for the pictures - nice to see her new home. 

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for the report, Max and don't miss the link that Tim just posted. It'll fill you in on all the missing details. They weren't just out on a hike, they were searching diligently and had already found a triceratops before they discovered Trix.

[Max-fossils]

1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said:

Max, 

 

You might find it interesting that the couple who found it are members here.  

 

We Found a T-Rex.

 

Thanks for the pictures - nice to see her new home. 

 

38 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

Thanks for the report, Max and don't miss the link that Tim just posted. It'll fill you in on all the missing details. They weren't just out on a hike, they were searching diligently and had already found a triceratops before they discovered Trix.

Well, those are some details I missed!

Tim, the link you gave me just brings me to the home page of TFF  . And doing a quick search didn't reveal much...

Could you please give me a link for the topic?

[FossilDAWG]

I'm getting the same thing.  Has the original thread been deleted?

 

Don

[Fossildude19]

Try it now, guys  

[JohnBrewer]

On 5/26/2017 at 1:51 PM, Max-fossils said:

Finally, here is the thing we have all been waiting for: Trix. 

Wow! I visited you country last year and hope to return. This is number one on my list of things to see! Thanks for sharing!

[Max-fossils]

15 hours ago, JohnBrewer said:

Wow! I visited you country last year and hope to return. This is number one on my list of things to see! Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed the pictures, and that I could give you a sneak-peek of your bucket-list. 

16 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Try it now, guys  

Thanks!

[LordTrilobite]

For those wanting to visit. There's only about a week left before the skeleton goes on tour. It's going to Barcelona, Paris and Macau.

The T.rex will be back when the new museum building is done. Which will be sometime late in 2018.

[Fossildude19]

Another great topic on Trix:   LINK

[Fossil-Hound]

Very insightful and delightful post. Thanks for sharing! FYI @Fossildude19 on her original post @chele removed all relevant content as the museum didn't want any info about the dinosaur before it's unveiling. Here's what she later said about it: 

 

 

I really wish @chele would post some on site pictures of the find or repost what she had previously hidden.

[Fossildude19]

21 minutes ago, Fossil-Hound said:

! FYI @Fossildude19 on her original post @chele removed all relevant content as the museum didn't want any info about the dinosaur before it's unveiling. 

 

 

Jason, 

If you wade through the thread,  you will find on page 7 The update from Chele.

So not ALL relevant content is missing.  

[Max-fossils]

2 hours ago, LordTrilobite said:

For those wanting to visit. There's only about a week left before the skeleton goes on tour. It's going to Barcelona, Paris and Macau.

The T.rex will be back when the new museum building is done. Which will be sometime late in 2018.

That was exactly the info that was stuck somewhere in my mind, and that I couldn't remember anymore. Thanks for the reminder 

2 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

Another great topic on Trix:   LINK

Should have seen this topic earlier, seems like I was a bit late! Thanks for the link 

[Max-fossils]

2 hours ago, Fossil-Hound said:

Very insightful and delightful post. Thanks for sharing! FYI @Fossildude19 on her original post @chele removed all relevant content as the museum didn't want any info about the dinosaur before it's unveiling. Here's what she later said about it: 

 

 

I really wish @chele would post some on site pictures of the find or repost what she had previously hidden.

 

1 hour ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

Jason, 

If you wade through the thread,  you will find on page 7 The update from Chele.

So not ALL relevant content is missing.  

I read that part too, and it was indeed the only relevant part in the topic (to be honest I didn't search much further). Still extremely interesting! Wish I was there when that topic was started.

 

And @Fossil-Hound, I'm happy you liked my topic 

[Bone guy]

The way they posed Trix is awesome. They did a good job portraying the power and simply terrifying-ness of a trex.

[jpc]

Whatever happened to chele?

 

I hear there is another T rex in Europe now... mounted in a museum in Germany, I believe.  Found by Great Plains Paleontology in MT.  I can't reember its name.  

[Max-fossils]

13 hours ago, Bone guy said:

The way they posed Trix is awesome. They did a good job portraying the power and simply terrifying-ness of a trex.

I totally agree!

 

11 hours ago, jpc said:

Whatever happened to chele?

 

I hear there is another T rex in Europe now... mounted in a museum in Germany, I believe.  Found by Great Plains Paleontology in MT.  I can't remember its name.  

2

I don't know what happened to Chele. She was last online in December 2016, which is quite a while ago. 

The name of the T-Rex you are referring to is Tristan. But from what I understood here, LINK, this T-Rex isn't owned by the museum, but the owner Niels Nielsen leant it to the museum for 3 years. 

[jpc]

Tristan... yes, that's it.  Thanks for the link.  

[Max-fossils]

Just now, jpc said:

Tristan... yes, that's it.  Thanks for the link.  

[karelchytil]

Thanks so much guys for these references.

I am sculpting TRex in ZBrush and thanks a lot.

Sure I know maybe this is not good comment for this site for fossil forum, or that content.

But thanks a lot.

 

 

[Fossildude19]

2 hours ago, karelchytil said:

Thanks so much guys for these references.

I am sculpting TRex in ZBrush and thanks a lot.

Sure I know maybe this is not good comment for this site for fossil forum, or that content.

But thanks a lot.

 

Welcome to the Forum.

It's a perfectly fine comment for the Forum.

You should post your images of your z-brush model under Paleo-Recreations.  

[karelchytil]

2 hours ago, Fossildude19 said:

 

Welcome to the Forum.

It's a perfectly fine comment for the Forum.

You should post your images of your z-brush model under Paleo-Recreations.  

Thanks, i will post there the final renders