KOLLER TRX-293 TRINITY 18 April 2023

UNIQUE AND RARE SKULL What adds to the rarity and uniqueness of TRINITY is the incredibly preserved skull, which comes froma single specimen. ‘This is something very fragile and very rare’, said scientif ic advisor and consultant Ni ls Knötschke, one of the world’s leading profes- sional fossil preparators. ‘In general, dinosaur skulls are quite rare; they are among the most precious components. The skull bones of dino- saurs are often not fused together and they de- tach fromeach other easily.When dinosaurs died in the Jurassic or Cretaceous periods, they often lost their heads during deposition. In fact, most dinosaurs are foundwithout their skulls. But here we have truly original Tyrannosaurus skull bones that all originate from the same specimen. To be honest, I was quite nervous when we mounted the skull here in Switzerland, since I was somuch in awe of it’. HISTORY T. rex is the royal highness of all dinosaurs, and themost iconic dinosaur of themall. Completely enmeshed in contemporary culture and the scientific community, this carnivorous lizard roamed the earth for over 2million years. Between 65 and 67million years ago, TRINITY and her contemporaries laid the terrifying foun- dation for becoming a scientist’s dream and a pop cultural icon. The irresistible predator Tyran- nosaurus rex is still the epitome of the ‘deadly eating machine’, and a symbol of strength and superiority, eliciting the fascination of young and old alike. In spite of the fact that T. rex roamed the earth for two million years, all but an extremely limited number have turned to dust. In 1902, the first discovery of a T. rex skeleton was made by BarnumBrown of NewYork’s AmericanMuseum of Natural History – an assistant curator whose passion for unearthing fossils earned him the nickname ‘Mr Bones’. Slightly more than a century later, between 2008 and 2013, the bones of the TRX-293 were found in the Hell Creek and Lance Creek forma- tions in Montana and Wyoming. With 50.17% original bone material*, this fossil is not only of museumquality, but it is also has one of the high- est bone contents of all known specimens. In comparison, the T. rex ‘Stan’ mentioned earlier which sold for US $31.8million, had an estimated overall completeness of 65%. Each of Trinity’s 293 bones had to be pains- takingly unearthed, prepared, cleaned and re- stored before themounting could take place. For an entire dinosaur, this process often takes be- tween seven and ten years – an enormous effort for a team of palaeontologists, preparators, conservators and other specialised professions in the fossil field. 11 * F ossils are by nature ancient, million-year-old remains of once-living organisms. Tomake themdurable and displayable, they need to be repaired, stabilised and supplemented. A certain amount of additions and repairs are always necessary and part of palaeontological restoration. Due to differentmeasuringmethods, the information on the original bonematerial can differ slightly. The value of the fossil depends on both the degree of completeness and the quality of the restorationwork.