Archived Exhibits: "Scotty" the T. rex Bones on Display
Now's your chance to see "Scotty" (or at least parts of him)! Stop by the RSM lobby to see the knife-like teeth, vertebrae and skull parts of this 65 million year old T. rex, discovered during the summer of 1994 in Saskatchewan's Frenchman River Valley. Why has it taken this long to put the bones on display? Each bone was surrounded by ironstone, an extremely hard substance which was difficult and time-consuming to remove. Much of the skeleton is still being prepared in the palaeontology labs at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and at the RSM Fossil Research Station in the Eastend T.rex Discovery Centre.
These bones are the pubes (singular: pubis) of the T. rex. The pubes are part of the pelvis. The two bones were joined together at their boot-shaped ends.
T. rex skeleton with pubes highlighted.
Scotty's tail is composed of 50 or more vertebrae. The long parts are called 'chevrons', which would protrude underneath the tail vertebrae, supporting the bulk of muscle and tissue there.
Tail of a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.
B. Tail vertebra from "Scotty" the T. rex.
This large bone, called the lachrymal, is one of Scotty's many skull bones. It was located at the top of the skull just in front of the eye socket.
T. rex skull with lachrymal highlighted.
If you look closely at Scotty's teeth, you can see serrations similar to those on a steak knife. Unlike humans, T. rex constantly replaced its teeth throughout its lifetime.
"Scotty" the T. rex tooth.
"Scotty" the T. rex tooth close-up.
For further information contact the Exhibits Unit
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