Yes this is only part 1 because there is quite simply so much Carnegie Tyrannosaurus material on display to cover. And here’s the first and most important – the holotype of T. rex, what is, in effect the very definition of what Tyrannosaurus actually is. It’s a superb mount and sits over the carcass of an Edmontosaurus and with the head rather dipped which makes it easy to get to see this up close which is nice. Three more posts to come, so stay tuned.
Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings 
Beautiful! Thank you for these incredible photos. It’s the next best thing to getting to visit the museum, which I hope I will someday.
Hi Dave:
Do you know if that is a modern reconstruction based on the original skull material or just a cast of another T. rex’s skull?
Bruce
This is purely speculation on my part, but I think that is a modern reconstruction based on the original skull. For one thing, the holotype did come with the skull, but it wasn’t very complete. It was originally reconstructed based on an Allosaurus so it looks very weird, but it has since been dismantled. There’s no reason for them to use another skull for it when it already has its own. They just needed to fix it.
I simply don’t know. It looked real enough but that’s from a range of several feet. I expect to have a chance to sit and chat with people about these issues at some point and hope to get a post out of it.
I think that this is a new reconstruction based on the type skull material (which, if I recall, consists of maxilla, dentary and squamosal). Other specimens were used to fill in the gaps. Check here for a map of other specimens used:
http://michaelhollandproductions.com/mhpgallery/eholotyperexmap.html
Pardon my nym; I’ve never used it in response to another Bruce!
Interesting stuff, thanks.
Thank you for clarifying which is which. All the photos I’ve seen just have both of them crammed together. I’ve always speculated the one hovering over the carcass was the holotype since the other one looked bigger.
Awesome photos!!! Always good to see some sweet dinosaur action!
Viva La Dinoczars!
http://dinoczars.com/