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 SUE is the largest, best-preserved, and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex [T. rex] ever found.

Location: Sue is a permanent feature of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.

Sue measures 42 feet long from snout to tail, and 13 feet tall at the hip, and weighs 7 tons. She boasts 58 dagger-like teeth.

Sue was discovered in the summer of 1990 by Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist, and was named after her. The Field Museum purchased it in an auction in 1997. Sue was unveiled at the Field Museum in the year 2000.

When visiting SUE, note that the original skull is not with the skeleton, but is kept separately in the museum, and don’t miss to see it!   A replica of original skull crowns the skeleton in the Field Museum main lobby [Stanley Field Hall].  However, SUE’s original skull, which weighs 600 pounds, rests within an exhibition on the museum’s balcony on the first floor  [Searle Family Lounge ] , under a mural depicting this majestic creature in the flesh.

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“Sue” is the nickname given to the largest, most extensive and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex [T. rex] specimen ever found.
Sue the T.rex roamed North America about 67 million years ago. T.rex is one of the last dinosaur species and one of the largest flesh-eaters ever to have inhabited the Earth.

Sue measures 42 feet long from snout to tail, and 13 feet tall at the hip, and was estimated to have weighed more than 6.4 metric tons when alive.

Sue was discovered in the summer of 1990 by Sue Hendrickson, a paleontologist, and was named after her.

Sex: Unknown.  We refer to Sue as “she” because of her name, not because of her sex, which is unknown.

Time: Late Cretaceous Period, 67-65 million years ago.

Discovered: Hell Creek Formation of western South Dakota. August 12, 1990.

How Sue became a permanent feature of the Field Museum, Chicago?
Shortly after its discovery, the fossil became the center of an intense dispute arose over who was the legal owner of the bones. After ownership disputes were settled, the fossil was up for public auction in New York, in October 1997. Many were then worried that the fossil would end up in a private collection where people would not be able to observe it. The Field Museum in Chicago was also concerned about this possibility, and decided to attempt to purchase Sue. To ensure that Sue would be preserved for future generations of scientists and visitors, the Field Museum purchased Sue for $8.4 million USD. This is the highest amount ever paid for a dinosaur fossil.

Field Museum preparators spent more than 30,000 hours preparing the more than 250 bones and teeth in Sue’s skeleton
and making exact, fully articulated replicas so that people around the world would have the opportunity to view and study Sue.

Sue was unveiled at the Field Museum in 2000. She is now a permanent feature at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. The skeleton is kept in the main lobby  [Stanley Field Hall], while SUE’s original skull, which weighs 600 pounds, rests within an exhibition on the museum’s balcony on the first floor  [Searle Family Lounge ], under a mural depicting the T.rex  flesh. Done miss checking out the original skull of Sue.

As the most complete T. rex specimen ever discovered, Sue has tremendous value for scientists and the general public. Previously, only a handful of partial T. rex specimens had been found, none more than 60% complete. At 90% complete and exquisitely preserved, Sue is the most celebrated representative of its species, permitting more detailed studies of the biology, growth, and behavior of T. rex than had previously been possible.

 

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The skull of Sue seen here is actually a replica of the original skull. Sue’s original skull, rests within an exhibition on the Museum’s balcony, under a mural depicting this majestic creature in the flesh.

Why isn’t Sue’s skull with the rest of the skeleton?
Sue’s real skull weighs 600 pounds [272 kg] and is too heavy to be mounted on the structure that holds the skeleton. So the real skull is exhibited in the museum’s balcony, and a replica of the skull is attached to the skeleton.

 

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SUE’s original skull, which weighs 600 pounds, rests within an exhibition on the museum’s balcony on the first floor [Searle Family Lounge ], under a mural depicting the T.rex flesh. Dont miss checking out the original skull of Sue.

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Tip of Sue’s 20-foot long tail. It has 35 out of the more than 40 vertebrae that make up a T.rex tail, making it the most complete T.rex tail ever found.

 

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This is Sue’s right forelimb.Except for a few small wrist and knuckle bones, its all there. Only two complete T.rex arms have ever been found, and Sue’s is one of them.

 

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