The Sue Store At The Field Museum
Chicago,Illinois
One of the Field Museum’s most iconic, long-living exhibits is “Sue”, the dinosaur skeleton. It has been on display at the museum for nearly 20 years. Along with Sue’s worldwide fame comes millions of visitors per year. Hence, the museum needed to meet this volume of fanfare with a powerful, convenient retail presence, to accommodate the furious demand for gifts and souvenirs related to the Sue exhibit.
Being on the 2nd floor of an old building not necessarily designed with retail in mind, the exhibit presented a challenge. The museum staff needed to find an appropriate location for the Sue Store. They situated it immediately outside the exit of the exhibit, where visitors enter OPTO’s modular pop-up shop. Specified to specific dimensions, the pop-up structure perfectly fit within the precise constraints on the balcony level of the museum, and it nestles within the architecture as if it were part of the building itself.
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Sue Tyrannosaurus Rex Dinosaur
Sue is the largest, most extensive and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimen ever found, at over 90% original. It was discovered in 1990 by Sue Hendrickson, an explorer and fossil collector, and was named after her.
This fossil was auctioned in 1997, for US$ 8.3 million, the highest amount ever paid for a dinosaur fossil, and is now a permanent feature at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.
The largest Tyrannosaurus Rex Dinosaur specimen discovered, Sue has a length of 12.3 meters , stands 4.0 m tall at the hips, and has been estimated at between 8.414 metric tons as of 2018.
Displayed separately from the body, the skull weighs 272 kg .
During 1990, Sue Hendrickson decided to explore the nearby cliffs, and as she was walking along the base of a cliff, she discovered some small pieces of bone.
She looked above her to see where the bones had originated and observed larger bones protruding from the wall of the cliff.
She returned to camp with two small pieces of the bones and reported the discovery to the group of workers she was part of, from the Black Hills Institute. It was determined that the bones were from a T. rex by their distinctive contour and texture.
The Black Hills crew and Hendrickson began to uncover the bones, and they discovered that much of the dinosaur had been preserved. Previously discovered T. rex skeletons were usually missing over half of their bones.
Finding Sues New Suite
Youll find SUE inside Evolving Planet on our upper level. Keep an eye out for the giraffe-sized pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus at the entrance to the exhibition.
If youre in our main Stanley Field Hall, follow the flying pterosaurs up the northeast stairs to the entrance of Evolving Planet. Or, look for the east elevators on any floor. Museum staff and volunteers are available to talk all things SUE and show you the way.
You’re heading the right way when you see the seated pterosaur outside Evolving Planet.
Lucy Hewett
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Worlds Most Popular Dinosaur Transforms At Chicagos Field Museum
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WATCH: World’s Most Popular Dinosaur Transforms at Chicago’s Field Museum
You dont often get a second chance to make a first impression, unless, of course, youre one of the worlds most popular dinosaurs.
Its a different profile, a much more impressive profile in many ways, a pretty scary large animal, as opposed to a lighter, swifter animal, says the Field Museums Director of Exhibitions, Jaap Hoogstraten, who has courted the leading lady of the dinosaurs since she arrived in Chicago nearly twenty years ago.
Since we put her up in 2000, weve made discoveries about the pose. Weve added the gastralia, which are the belly ribs which changes the outline of Sue quite a bit. Sue is much bulkier.
The belly ribs are not a new discovery theyve existed since the fossil was recovered from obscurity in the rock formations of South Dakota in the early 1990s. That was the beginning of a long legal and physical journey for the worlds largest Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Known as Sue, named for paleontologist Sue Hendrickson who discovered it, the well-preserved specimen arrived as the star attraction in Stanley Hall at the Field Museum in 2000.
But scientists only recently learned how the belly ribs fit onto the overall specimen, which now fundamentally changes what we know about the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
It pushes what we know about T-Rex forward, says Hoogstraten, including possible answers to how Sue met her fate.
About This Recurring Event
Learn about this famous fossils history, complete with trivia and an interactive 3D model.
Take a closer look at SUE in these online events and brush up on little-known facts about the most complete adultTyrannosaurus rex. Field Museum staff guide you from SUEs life in the Cretaceous to the latest scientific research. Using a 3D virtual model scanned straight from SUEs fossilized bones, theyll point out key features that give hints about SUEs past.
Trivia breaks give you the chance to test your dinosaur knowledge. Plus, submit your questions using the Q& A feature of the Zoom Webinar Well answer your questions during your tour.
This online event is free with a suggested $10 donation and is suitable for adults, families, and kids .
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A Look Inside Sue The T Rexs New Private Suite At The Field Museum
Sue the T. Rex inside a new private suite at the Field Museum.
It cost a lot of money $8.4 million, to be exact for the Field Museum to acquire Sue, its world-famous T. Rex, more than two decades ago. And it cost even more to repair Sue, whose skeleton was discovered in 1990 during a commercial excavation trip near Faith, South Dakota.
What Did Sue The T Rex Look Like When Alive New Field Model Shows Dino With Skin Eyes
Of course, the model also shows SUE chomping down on another dinosaur.
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CHICAGO Dinosaur lovers can get a new view of SUE the T. rex for several weeks at the Field Museum.
The museum will display a model of the famous fossil but the model will show what SUE could have looked like while alive, with dark eyes and brown skin.
Of course, the model also shows SUE chomping down on another dinosaur.
The model nicknamed Fleshy is scientifically accurate and was made by scientific and artistic experts, according to the Field Museum.
Fleshy will be on display at the field until Aug. 18 and will then be shipped out for a touring exhibition, SUE: the T. rex Experience.
SUE has long been among the Fields most popular displays and is known for being the largest, most complete T. rex to be found. The dinosaur also maintains a snarky presence on Twitter.
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Why Is Sue So Important
At more than 40 feet long and 13 feet tall at the hip, SUE is physically the largest Tyrannosaurus rex specimen discovered, out of more than 30 T. rex skeletons that have been found. SUE is also the most completearound 90 percent. We have 250 of the approximately 380 known bones in the T. rex skeleton, including the furcula and gastralia .
Copies of SUEs skeleton were created from molds made by our preparators. These casts were made for a variety of purposes. One complete skeleton is stored unassembled in our research collections for further study by visiting scientists. Others were assembled into mounted cast skeletons, which travel to museums and science centers around the world for international dinosaur lovers to marvel at.
All that expense and hard work has been well worth it: SUE is the most celebrated representative of T. rex and arguably the most famous fossil in the world. SUE has enabled scientists all over the world to do more detailed studies of the species evolutionary relationships, biology, growth, and behavior than ever before.
SUE lived in the Late Cretaceous period, depicted here in a painting by John Gurche.
John Weinstein
Sue The T Rex Returns To Public Display At Field Museum On December 21
CHICAGO — Sue the T Rex will be back on public display at the Field Museum on Dec. 21, the museum revealed on Monday.
Back and better than ever12.21.18. ???? #SUEOnTheMove
Field Museum
Sue was all over Twitter about the news, too.
???? THE COUNTDOWN STARTS NOW ????
SUE the T. rex ????
However, Sue was not forthcoming with many details about her new home.
But seriously, I’m sitting on a Dropbox folder chock full of cool news and pictures I can’t wait to show y’all.I’ve been told they’ll cut off the ham train if I share any of it before the embargo…You want to be @FieldMuseum this winter. Trust me.
SUE the T. rex ????
In February, Sue was moved from her longtime main hall home for a new attraction– a titanosaur weighing about 70 tons, so tall that its head peeks over the second-floor balcony in Stanley Field Hall.
In the meantime, work has been proceeding to give Sue a new home.
“We are de-installing the most iconic T-Rex fossil in the world,” Hilary Hansen, the Field’s Exhibitions Department project manager, said in February. “We’re moving SUE, bone by bone, into a brand new exhibition on the second floor completely devoted to SUE.”
First published on November 12, 2018 / 2:47 PM
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The T Rex That Got Away: Smithsonians Quest For Sue Ends With Different Dinosaur
The dinosaur head rested on a cushion 600 spectacular pounds of dead weight on display and on the block at Sothebys in New York.
Sue, as the Tyrannosaurus rex was known, had no shortage of suitors after coming from the South Dakota Badlands to the Upper East Side auction house in search of a new habitat. Few, though, found Sue more bewitching than the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History, which very much wanted the fossil to fill a T. rex-sized hole in its dinosaur collection.
Now, on Oct. 4, 1997 the day that dramatically changed the market for dinosaur bones she was available to anyone with a bidding paddle and a bankroll.
I begin with a bid of $500,000, Sothebys auctioneer David Redden said to open the high-stakes sale.
In a private suite above the auction floor, above the skull that measured five feet in length, with serrated teeth the size of bananas, Scott Chinery was eager to bid on the most famous example of the most famous dinosaur species, on behalf of the Natural History Museum.
The Smithsonian should have this T. rex, hed said in the weeks before the sale.
The dinosaur was riding an enormous wave of publicity as the largest, most complete T. rex fossil ever unearthed. She also had an enthralling backstory: An FBI-led task force had seized Sue from the commercial bone dealers who found the fossil, and the ensuing custody battle had played out in federal court.
It wasnt nearly enough.
Kislak bumped it to $7.3 million.
Finding Sue At The Field Museum Chicago Illinois
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For my first solo trip I went to South Dakota back in 2012. While I was there I stopped in Hill City, specifically at the Museum at Black Hills Institute. I had mistakenly heard that Sue, the most complete T-Rex fossil ever found, was housed there. Although she was there at one time, she had since been moved to The Field Museum in Chicago. The Black Hills Institute had Stan, a smaller, yet still impressive T-Rex on display. Not to make Stan feel bad or anything, but I left the museum a little sad that I had missed Sue.
Fast forward 2 years and I was in Chicago and the day had finally arrived for me to see Sue. It was a rainy day in Chicago and in my opinion there is no better day than a rainy one to be in a museum. Before I entered the museum I snapped this photo of a dinosaur sporting his Blackhawk pride. It was during the Stanley Cup playoffs and Chicago was in the running. As an original 6 team I of course had to root for the Hawks.
I entered the museum through the North Entrance. As I stood in line to purchase my ticket I could see Sue looming in the background. She was in fact as impressive as I thought she would be.
An interesting side note her skull is a replica as it is too heavy for the display. Her skull is located upstairs overlooking the first floor. This above view is a great vantage point to see Sue from.
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The Field Museum Unveiled Sue In The Flesh Thursday Which Will Sit In The Stanley Field Hall Until The Exhibit Starts Traveling Aug 17
The Field Museum unveiled Sue in the Flesh Thursday.
Clare Proctor/Sun-Times
For two decades, Sue has drawn dinosaur lovers to the Field Museum so they can catch a glimpse of the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered.
Now, museum-goers can walk up to a life-size model of what Sue would have looked like when alive.
The 40-foot-long, 14-foot-tall Sue in the Flesh exhibit was unveiled at the museums Stanley Field Hall Thursday. The life-size model prominently features a replica baby Edmontosaurus in its mouth. The Edmontosaurus was probably a popular part of a Tyrannosaurus rexs diet, experts say.
Sue in the Flesh was created at Blue Rhino Studio in Minnesota and matches the exact dimensions and details of Sues skeletal counterpart, including scars and scratches. Just above the dinosaurs left ankle is a scar experts guess caused a bone infection and was the result of Sue being rammed by a Triceratops or battered by the clubbed tail of an Ankylosaurus, said Bill Simpson, head of geological collections at the museum.
Scars on Sues nose and throughout its body match markings found on the bones of its skeleton.
Clare Proctor/Sun-Times
A scar above Sues left ankle could be from a Triceratops or Ankylosaurus, said Bill Simpson, head of geological collections at the museum.
Clare Proctor/Sun-Times
Its amazing how big it is, Miller said. Its calf muscle is as big as I am.
Clare Proctor/Sun-Times
Skeleton Discovery And Naming
, assistant curator of the , found the first partial skeleton of T. rex in eastern Wyoming in 1900. Brown found another partial skeleton in the in Montana in 1902, comprising approximately 34 fossilized bones. Writing at the time Brown said “Quarry No. 1 contains the femur, pubes, humerus, three vertebrae and two undetermined bones of a large Carnivorous Dinosaur not described by …. I have never seen anything like it from the “., president of the , named the second skeleton T. rex in 1905. The generic name is derived from the words and . Osborn used the word rex, meaning “king”, for the specific name. The full therefore translates to “tyrant lizard the king” or “King Tyrant Lizard”, emphasizing the animal’s size and perceived dominance over other species of the time.
Dynamosaurus imperiosus
Osborn named the other specimen Dynamosaurus imperiosus in a paper in 1905. In 1906, Osborn recognized that the two skeletons were from the same species and selected Tyrannosaurus as the preferred name. The original Dynamosaurus material resides in the collections of the , London. In 1941, the T. rex type specimen was sold to the in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for $7,000.Dynamosaurus would later be honored by the 2018 description of another species of tyrannosaurid by Andrew McDonald and colleagues, , whose name was chosen in reference to the 1905 name, as it had been a “childhood favorite” of McDonald’s.
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Skin And Possible Filamentous Feathering
Tyrannosaurus
The discovery of led to debate regarding whether, and to what extent, Tyrannosaurus might have been feathered. Filamentous structures, which are commonly recognized as the precursors of , have been reported in the small-bodied, basal tyrannosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of China in 2004. Because impressions of larger tyrannosauroids known at that time showed evidence of , the researchers who studied Dilong speculated that insulating feathers might have been lost by larger species due to their smaller surface-to-volume ratio. The subsequent discovery of the giant species , also from the Yixian, showed that even some large tyrannosauroids had feathers covering much of their bodies, casting doubt on the hypothesis that they were a size-related feature. A 2017 study reviewed known skin impressions of tyrannosaurids, including those of a Tyrannosaurus specimen nicknamed “Wyrex” which preserves patches of mosaic scales on the tail, hip, and neck. The study concluded that feather covering of large tyrannosaurids such as Tyrannosaurus was, if present, limited to the upper side of the trunk.
Sue The T Rex Gets A New Home At Field Museum
Chicago’s favorite fossil is being moved from the Main Hall of the Field Museum to make room for a bigger dinosaur.
CHICAGO — When the Field Museum unveiled the skeleton of Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex in 2000, it quickly became an icon. But now Chicago’s favorite fossil is being moved from the Main Hall of the Field Museum to make room for a bigger dinosaur.
“The year we opened Sue, our attendance soared. There have been just a few notable times in our history when that’s happened,” said Bill Simpson, a paleontologist with the Field Museum.
Simpson said Sue is the largest, most complete T. Rex skeleton ever found. At 12-feet-tall, 40-feet-long and weighing 19,000 pounds, Sue has captured the attention of dinosaur fans and has been the star attraction for the museum.
“I think Sue’s raised the profile of the museum, not only nationally, but internationally,” Simpson said.
And now, the museum plans to up the ante by bringing in a replica of the biggest dinosaur ever discovered, the aptly-named Titanosaur. It will go in the Great Hall in Sue’s place.
“It’s a giant dinosaur and because it’s a cast, people can go up to it and touch it – unlike Sue, of course,” Simpson said.
So museum staff started dismantling Sue, starting with taking apart the bones of the feet. It will be a month-long process and visitors can watch.
“Knowing you’re seeing the real thing, it makes it special for me, it makes it special for my kids, too,” Martha Smith said.
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