In February, the Field Museum began disassembling SUE the T. rex, the dinosaur skeleton that has held a place of prominence in Stanley Field Hall for several decades. While SUE will get a new home in the museum's “Evolving Planet” exhibition in spring 2019, the reason behind the move was to make way a brand new dino skeleton that will welcome visitors to the Chicago institution.
Yesterday, the Field Museum began installing the largest dinosaur ever discovered, a titanosaur that has been dubbed Máximo. The 70-ton, 122-foot-long skeleton is being moved into the museum piece by piece—crews had to use a crane to get a 2,000-pound section of vertebrae up the stairs and into the building. The assembly is expected to wrap up by 9am on Friday, May 25 (Máximo's head will be attached at approximately 8am), so visitors to the museum will be able to start snapping selfies with the skeleton this weekend.
The titanosaur skeleton will join several new additions to Stanley Field Hall, including a series of hanging gardens containing wildlife that were present on Earth during the time of the dinosaurs and several life-size replicas of a flying reptile called the pterosaur.
Take a look at some photos of Máximo's installation below, and let's hope that the Field Museum's newest resident gets a Twitter account that's as funny as SUE's.
Photograph: © Field Museum
Photograph: © Field Museum
Photograph: © Field Museum
Photograph: © Field Museum
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