Danish fossil collector Niels Nielsen has loaned out a 12 metre-long skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex to the Natural History Museum in Berlin, reports Jyllands-Posten.
Tristan, as the 66 million-year-old dinosaur is named, will be on display at the German museum for three years.
“Dinosaurs attract people to museums” and such exhibits “encourage children to take an interest in research”, said Nielsen.
Most complete skeleton
At four metres high, Tristan is considered one of the world’s best preserved specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex.
It was transported to Berlin in 300 separate parts, of which 170 are original, while the rest are reproductions.
The skeleton was dug out in the US state of Montana between 2010 and 2012.
A rare opportunity
A team of 70 researchers at Berlin’s Natural History Museum will examine the skeleton to establish a more precise age and to learn more about the animal that was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs that ever lived.
There are about 50 excavated skeletons of the prehistoric predators across the world, but many are owned by private collectors and are therefore inaccessible to the public.
