A visitor from 66 million years ago - the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton to be displayed in Aotearoa - will be on show at Tmaki Paenga Hira (Auckland War Memorial Museum) this month.<\/p>\n
Peter the T rex is 47 percent complete by bone density. Photo: Supplied\/ Auckland War Memorial Museum<\/p>\n
Museum-goers will have the chance to stand up close to one of history's most notorious predators from 15 April.<\/p>\n
The skeleton is from an adult T rex, and is set up in hunting position, 4m-high and 12m-long.<\/p>\n
It is the first time this T rex skeleton has been displayed anywhere, and the first time real T rex fossils have been shown in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
Museum spokesperson Timothy Hart said Peter met a grim end in life. His legs were gnawed on by something big.<\/p>\n
\"It looks like he was probably killed by another T rex, possibly a mother and a baby T rex, 'cause there's evidence of feeding from a large animal and a smaller animal, but still a T rex.<\/p>\n
\"[They] can tell from the spacing of the teeth. So it looks like together they finished him off.\"<\/p>\n
Peter is one of about 32 adult T rex skeletons to ever be discovered.<\/p>\n
The giant fossil is on display until 4 September, and alongside it the museum will run an immersive dinosaur performance, junior palaeontology programme and two other educational programmes on dinosaurs and fossils.<\/p>\n
Peter the T rex was found in 2018 in a fossil-rich area called the Lance formation, near Wyoming in the western United States.<\/p>\n
Tyrannosaurus rex lived between 66 and 67 million years ago, paleontologists said in a report prepared about Peter's skeleton.<\/p>\n
That means his bones have been fossilised, and subject to tens of millions of years of erosion, compression and movement within the Rarth.<\/p>\n
By bone density, Peter the T rex is 47 percent complete and is \"one of the top 10 most complete T rex in the world,\" said Dr David Burnham of the University of Kansas, one of the report's authors.<\/p>\n
\"We are fortunate in having a significant number of Peter's largest bones, many of which are incredibly well-preserved.\"<\/p>\n
Peter's skeleton has a distinct special feature - it has taken on a black colour from organic material that surrounded it as it lay in the Earth.<\/p>\n
\"Peter is an incredibly rare and visually stunning obsidian black in colour,\" said Dr John Nudds, of the University of Manchester, another of the report authors.<\/p>\n
\"Only four black T rex have ever been discovered.\"<\/p>\n
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Originally posted here:<\/p>\n
Auckland to host New Zealand's first Tyrannosaurus rex - RNZ<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A visitor from 66 million years ago - the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton to be displayed in Aotearoa - will be on show at Tmaki Paenga Hira (Auckland War Memorial Museum) this month. Peter the T rex is 47 percent complete by bone density Continue reading