T. rex reconstruction: Canadian team readies skeleton for Smithsonian

A team of Canadian specialists isbusy preparing a peek into the distant past, mounting a 66-million-year-old T. rex skeleton for a new, permanent display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural Historyin Washington, D.C.

The ambitious exhibit shows the Tyrannosaurus rex about to take a bite out of a lesser dinosaur, a Triceratops.The skeleton is one of the finest examples of a T. rex ever found.

The massive T. rex involves tricky work to hold it in its dynamic pose. The fossils are both heavy and fragile, each piece requiring a custom-built "cradle" to hold it in place.

Research Casting International in Trenton, Ont.,won the contract to prepare the exhibit for the Smithsonian, part of a massive museum makeover that won't be complete until 2019.The firm, one of a handful of companies that has the special skills to handle fossils, does work for museums around the world.

In a few months, work on this display will be finished and the skeletons dismantled for transport. The company has another 48 dinosaurs to work on while it waits for the renovations at the museum to be completed.

(Watch the video of the restoration at the top of this page.)