A Tyrannosaurus rex fossil discovered in Montana in 1988 -- which has since been on display at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana -- will be transported to Washington, D.C. next week on a fifty year loan to the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the Associated Press reported.
"It's about time the Smithsonian had their own T. rex," Mark Robinson, marketing director at the Museum of the Rockies, told the Republic. "Seven million people a year will be seeing it, and we're OK with that. It will be good exposure for the Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University and the state."
Because the T. rex was discovered by Kathy Wankel, the former head of nursing at a community college, on public property (eastern Montana's Fort Peck Reservoir), it became the property of the federal government, specifically the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They then donated it to the local museum.
Still, Wankel likes to think her find helped gain attention for the Museum of the Rockies during its 25 year or so stay. She believes the move across the country will continue to generate good press for her hometown museum.
"I like to think that us giving them a T. rex helped them build up the museum and get funding," Wankel said. "They've done a wonderful job."
On a walk with her husband in 1988, Wankel noticed just the tip of the fossil. A dry summer combined with millions of years buried underground made any immediate attempts to get a better picture of the fossil impossible. Wankel would return with more family members and tools before enlisting the help of the Museum of Rockies, who'd be the first to confirm the magnificent find. Several years later, they excavated 85 percent of a T. rex skeleton. It's one of the nation's most celebrated specimen of the species.
The T. rex will go on display at the Smithsonian in 2019.
