Dinosaur fans can view the 'Sue' replica at the Auckland Museum from tomorrow. Photo / Kenny Rodger
All those teeth, and no toothbrush ... but it's not a problem for Auckland Museum's newest inhabitant - she hasn't eaten for about 67 million years.
The museum's project manager, Max Riksen, was yesterday putting the finishing touches to a replica of the world's biggest, most complete and
best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.
The giant dinosaur will be on public view from tomorrow, when the exhibition A T Rex Named Sue opens.
Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the most fearsome flesh-eaters to have inhabited the Earth, roamed North America 67 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period.
Scientists say the skeleton, which has 321 bones, is the most significant paleontological gem unearthed, and has led to breakthroughs in dinosaur research.
The ferocious-looking remains were named "Sue" after fossil hunter Sue Hendrickson, who discovered them in 1990 on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian reservation in South Dakota.
The original bones are now at the Field Museum in Chicago, which bought them at a public auction in 1997 for US$8.36 million - the most ever paid for fossilised remains.
Sue's skeleton is missing only a foot, an arm, a few ribs and some vertebrae.
A scan of her skull enabled scientists to reconstruct Sue's braincase. Her brain was 30.5cm long and shaped like a potato. A large part of it was devoted to the sense of smell.
Her skeleton has several T. rex bones never seen before, including the tip of the tail.
Scientists once believed T. rex dragged its tail along the ground but Sue's skeleton suggests the tail was rigid and used as a balancing tool.
Scans of her ribcage reveal some bones were broken and healed in her lifetime, possibly as the result of fights with other dinosaurs.
Her size and fusion of bones suggest she was very old, although scientists have been unable to determine how long dinosaurs lived.
And - despite her name - they don't really know that Sue was female.
The cast of Sue's 12.8m long and 3.6m high skeleton is the centrepiece of the exhibition, which also includes displays exploring the paleontology that helped scientists reconstruct her life and legacy.
