New T-Rex species on display at NM Natural History Museum first found in the 1980s
Elizabeth Tucker Elizabeth TuckerElizabeth Tucker Journal Staff Writer
PublishedModified
Journal File
Now on display at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science in Albuquerque, the pieces of a Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis were actually discovered back in the '80s by a Las Cruces man while attending a sailing club at Elephant Butte.
In May 1983, Don Staton, a member of the Rio Grande Sailing Club, saw what appeared to be a piece of petrified wood on the shore, but when he got closer, he saw it was something more.
He and about a dozen other club members spent roughly five hours excavating.
They took it to Las Cruces and called the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, who sent Paleontologist David Gillette to examine the specimen.
Gillette said the discovery filled in a "broad gap" of bones found in Farmington and the Big Bend in Texas.
Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis unveiled at the Museum of Natural History
The left lower jaw of a Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis on displayChancey Bush
Anthony R. Fiorillo, executive director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, speaks during the unveiling of the left lower jaw of a Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science on Thursday.Chancey Bush
Fourth and fifth graders of San Felipe de Neri School explore during a field trip at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque on Thursday. The students witnessed the unveiling of the Tyrannosaurus mcraensis. The Tyrannosaurus rex relative was discovered in Elephant Butte in 1983.Chancey Bush
A card shows the rendering of a Tyrannosaurus mcraeensisChancey Bush
The left lower jaw of a Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis on display at the unveiling at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque on Thursday.Chancey Bush
San Felipe de Neri School fifth graders, from left, Sofia Garcia, Sofia Bowerman and Isabella Sedillo view the left lower jaw of a Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis on display during its unveiling at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science in Albuquerque on Thursday.Chancey Bush
Fifth grader Lily Christian reacts while unveiling the fossil of a Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis’ left lower jaw at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & ScienceChancey Bush
The left lower jaw of a Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis on display at the unveiling at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science on Thursday.Chancey Bush
The newly discovered Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis was roughly the same size as a T. rex, which measured up to 40 feet long and 12 feet high.Adrian Gomez
The partial skull of the Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis is on view at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science.Adrian Gomez
