Traveling Exhibit 'SUE: The T. rex Experience' Coming To Denver Museum of Nature & Science
DENVER (CBS4) - The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is bracing for a T. Rex invasion. SUE the T. rex is the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered and she will make her debut in Denver on Feb. 12.
The traveling exhibition "SUE: The T. rex Experience" gives visitors a chance to learn about the T. rex world by touching casts of fossils and coming face to face with SUE while experiencing the throaty rumble of her growl.
SUE's fossils are on permanent display at the Field Museum in Chicago but the traveling exhibit has an exact cast of the skeleton. It measure 40 feet from snout to tail and is 13 feet tall at the hip. The exhibit also has a replica of a T. rex preying on an Edmontosaurus, a duck-billed herbivore.
Scientists continue to study SUE because of how well the bones are preserved and the traveling exhibit includes all those new discoveries. That includes the find of new "belly ribs" called gastralia that stretched across the dinosaur's abdomen to help it breathe.
The museum says it is a natural fit for Colorado.
"Our community has expressed an unwavering interest in dinosaurs, and we can't wait to introduce SUE to Colorado through this exciting exhibition," Denver Museum of Nature & Science President & CEO George Sparks said in a news release.
"We hope this glimpse into SUE's world inspires budding paleontologists and reignites a flame of curiosity in everyone else."
The museum will supplement the traveling exhibit with Colorado dinosaur discoveries including the femur and a vertebra of the only T. rex skeleton found in our state, part of the triceratops found in Highlands Ranch in 2019, the jaw from Tiny the Torosaurus found in Thornton in 2017, the jaw from a mystery horned dino found in 1975 as well as crocodile, turtle and mammal specimens found outside of Colorado Springs from 2017 to 2019.
And for the first time, the museum will display rare skulls of armored and dome-headed dinosaurs.
"Most of the metro area is situated on top of rocks deposited during SUE's time, so not only are we excited for SUE to visit Colorado, but we also have some incredible recent discoveries closer to home that guests will get to explore as part of the exhibition," Museum Curator of Dinosaurs Joe Sertich added in the news release.
The museum requires timed tickets for entrance and you will need a separate timed ticket for the SUE exhibit. The exhibit will be in Denver until April 25.
