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II. Preparation
A Jaw-dropping
Sight
Before work could begin on Tyrannosaurus rex, the skull had to
be removed from its exhibit in Dinosaur Hall. On June 16, 2003,
Scientific Preparator Norm Wuerthele and staff members from the
museum's exhibitions Department began the delicate process of moving
the skull to its temporary home in PaleoLab. First, they removed
the lower jaws from their iron framework.
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removing skull from stand
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Next,
the upper portion of the skull had to be unscrewed from the
threaded pipe that supported it. To accomplish this task,
Carnegie Museum of Natural History staff held the heavy skull
and slowly circled the exhibit platform. In this way, they
were able to remove the skull in the same way that you might
twist the cap off a bottle. |
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The
skull was then carefully placed on a cart and wheeled into
PaleoLab, the Museum’s fossil preparation laboratory. |
moving skull into lab |
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on table in lab
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Heads
Up
Once
inside PaleoLab, the skull was placed upside down on a padded,
circular table. This table, built specifically to handle a
T. rex skull, is four feet in circumference with a
capacity of 4,000 pounds. It rotates 360 degrees and has a
hydraulic
system that allows it be raised and lowered 12 inches. For
additional support, preparators placed sandbags underneath
parts of the skull. Such sandbags conform to the shape of
the skull and help reduce stress on the fossilized material. |
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Scientific Preparator Yvonne Wilson (left) helped remove
the original
bones from the plaster. Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology
Christopher Beard (middle) and former Associate Director
for Science Hans-Dieter Sues (right) oversaw the work being
done on the T. rex skull. After the original skull
material had been removed and cleaned, scientists
began
to study
the bones and teeth.
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Wilson,
Beard, Sues |
Next
page: Dismantling the Skull |
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