Released on March 26, 2019
It’s official, Saskatchewan’s own Scotty is the most massive T.rex ever found!“Scotty the T.rex is an excellent attraction to the province for residents both inside and out of Saskatchewan,” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Gene Makowsky said. “There is already a replica of Scotty at the T.rex Discovery Centre in Eastend, and very soon there will be one at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina, I encourage everyone to visit both locations and discover more about our province’s history.”
A draft paper published online on March 21, 2019 in The Anatomical Record shares that palaeontologists from the University of Alberta and Florida State University revealed that Scotty is estimated to have weighed 8,870 kg, “a body mass exceeding all other known T.rex specimens and representatives of all other gigantic terrestrial theropods.” This means that not only is Scotty the most massive T.rex ever found, it is more massive than any specimen of any other meat eating dinosaur ever found to date.
The draft version of the paper also revealed there is no evidence to indicate that Scotty was male or female, and was likely greater than 28 years old at the time of death. About 65 per cent of Scotty’s fossilized bones were found at the dig site, which makes Scotty one of the most complete T.rex skeletons ever found.
Scotty’s history dates back to August 16, 1991. At that time, high school teacher Robert Gebhardt was looking for fossils in the Frenchman River Valley near the town of Eastend with Royal Saskatchewan Museum palaeontologist Tim Tokaryk, when he discovered the fossilized remains of the now famous 65-million-year-old T.rex. In June 1994, palaeontologists began the long excavating process of this large skeleton. Once removed, the 20-year process of exhibiting an exact copy began.
For more information on the Scotty exhibit in Eastend or Regina, programming at the museum or to learn more about supporting the RSM’s world class work, visit https://royalsaskmuseum.ca/, Facebook (@Royal.Saskatchewan.Museum), Twitter (@royalsaskmuseum) or Instagram (@RoyalSaskMuseum).
To review the article online, visit https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.24118#.XJQsksF-cn4.facebook. Visit. Donate. Discover.
The RSM located at 2445 Albert Street, is open daily from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
-30-
For more information, contact:
Brooke Lochbaum
Parks, Culture and Sport
Regina
Phone: 306-787-5781
Email: brooke.lochbaum@gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-550-5927