T. rex gets new home in Smithsonian dinosaur hall

For the first time, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History will have a nearly complete T. rex skeleton

Pat Leiggi, left, the Museum of the Rockies director of exhibitions and administrator of paleontology, Brian Baziak, center, preparator paleontology, and Carrie Ancell, right, senior preparator of paleontology, check the contents of a crate containing fossilized bones from a Tyrannosaurus rex in Bozeman, Montana. The specimen, known as the Wankel T. rex, is being prepared for shipment from Montana to Washington, where it will be on display in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s new paleontology exhibit scheduled to open in 2019. Photo: AP

A Tyrannosaurus rex is joining the dinosaur fossil collection on the National Mall after a 3,000-mile (4,830-kilometre) journey from Montana.

For the first time, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History will have a nearly complete T. rex skeleton. FedEx is delivering the dinosaur bones on Tuesday in 16 crates. Visitors can get their first look as curators examine each bone over the next six months. But it will take five years for the museum to overhaul its dinosaur hall with the T. rex mounted as the centre piece of a $35 million gallery devoted to the history of life on Earth.

The T. rex was found in 1988 on federal land and was previously displayed at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana.