Truck driver Dale Neubauer rolled his semi-trailer around the back of the Florida Museum of Natural History early Wednesday, lugging the bones of a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex named Sue.
After a seven-day road trip, Sue is here to stay until September for dinosaur lovers to enjoy the sight of the almost whole T. rex skeleton.
“The main thing about her is she’s the most complete and best preserved T. rex ever found,” said Paul Ramey, the museum’s assistant director for marketing and public relations.
Neubauer, 65, opened his trailer, where wooden crates containing Sue’s parts were packed inside.
She was greeted by a forklift and seven workers bundled in jackets, ready to unload the crates, which each weighed close to a ton. The sound of rolling carts echoed through the metal storage building as the workers hustled to unload the first truck.
There were still two more on the way, hauling the rest of the 42-foot-long T. rex.
Sue the T. rex was found 25 years ago in South Dakota by paleontologist Sue Hendrickson, for whom the dinosaur bones are named.
Although she is referred to as a female, the gender of the dinosaur cannot actually be determined because there’s a lack of T. rex remains to compare and study, said Darcie MacMahon, the director of exhibits and public programs.
A T. rex skeleton is made up of 250 bones, and MacMahon said Sue is remarkable because she is about 90 percent complete.
“You can ... learn a lot from the anatomies in the skeleton and learn about its life,” she said.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s website, Sue is missing only a foot, an arm, a few ribs and a vertebrae.
Ramey said this is the second time Sue has been displayed at the museum. Her permanent home is the Field Museum in Chicago, but she has been traveling around the world since 2000.
She last visited Gainesville 13 years ago, and the museum felt it was time for a reunion.
Hands-on activities will be available for young visitors to sift for fossils in a dig pit, Ramey said.
Admission to the exhibit is free for museum members and UF students with a valid Gator 1 Card.
Ramey said Sue will be assembled within seven to 10 days and will be a great opportunity for the next generation of dinosaur lovers.
“She was extremely popular the first time she was here,” he said. “We’re really excited to be able to have her here again.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 1/15/2015 under the headline “Sue the T. rex is back in town"]
Dale Neubauer, 65, supervises workers from the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Phillips Center for Performing Arts Center unload one of the crates in which Sue’s bones are packed. Each crate weighs about a ton.
