

Soft tissue and cartilage have usually decayed entirely. Due to many influences, what is found is never an exact image of the living animal. Bone CountĪ long time has passed between the death of an organism and the discovery of its fossilised remains. These finds tell us that at the lifetime of Tristan Otto, the climate was humid, warm and temperate. It is rich in dinosaurs as well as remains of other animals and plants. The well-known formation contains deposits beginning at 67 million years ago and ending approximately 65 million years before our time. Tristan Otto’s bones were found in the Hell Creek Formation, which runs through Montana, North and South Dakota in the USA. Thus, it took until October 2012 until the skeleton was recovered. However, soon after his discovery, he fractured his ankle, and in the following season 2011, he was hampered by a shoulder injury. Craig immediately realised that this was a T yrannosaurus rex. On one of his treks in 2010, he discovered part of a pelvic bone protruding from the ground. Craig Pfister spends this time on site, sleeping in tents and either excavating or going for long treks in search of promising sites.

He has found several Tyrannosaurus specimens.ĭue to the long cold winters, excavation can only take place from the end of March to late October. With the permission of land owners, he mainly excavates dinosaurs in Montana.
T REX REAL BONES PROFESSIONAL
DiscoveryĬraig Pfister is a professional fossil excavator and palaeontologist. At the same time, all presentations and information that have been collected about the animal add to its value – in every sense of the word.

Tristan Otto is an example of a solution to the problem. Museums, on the other hand, do not have the means to cover the cost for salvaging and preparing such a find. With the purchase, many precious specimens become unavailable to research. The Tristan Otto agreement shows a way out of a dilemma much criticized by scientists – the purchase of fossils and artefacts by private individuals.
T REX REAL BONES FREE
He chose the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, to which Tristan Otto will be lent free of charge for the coming years. Right from the beginning, Niels Nielsen was determined to give scientific research and the public access to the skeleton.

Together with his friend, Jens Peter Jensen, he bought the fossil that was named Tristan Otto after the two owners’ sons. When visiting a preparation workshop in Pennsylvania, he fell in love with the deep black bones. In November 2014, he was offered a particularly complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. Alongside art and manuscripts, his interests include dinosaurs. Niels Nielsen is a successful businessman and collector. Therefore it seemed to me to be the perfect place for Tristan Otto.” “The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is one of the world’s leading museums with outstanding exhibitions and research, particularly regarding dinosaurs. As MB.R.91216 this Tyrannosaurus find is identifiable in scientific terms and its data can be accessed. The skeleton remains private property, but is given an inventory number by the Museum. The precious fossil is available to the Museum für Naturkunde for research and exhibition for the coming years. Tristan Otto bears the names of the owners‘ sons. It is among the best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex specimens worldwide. The twelve- metre-long and four-metre-high deep black skeleton of the predatory dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous period was found in 2010 in the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, USA. Tristan Otto is the only original skeleton of a T.
