The Thomas the T. rex Lab is a specially designed exhibit room and lab where visitors get to see paleontology in action every day of the week. Inside the lab, but in full view to the public, our paleontologists are preparing and assembling the fossil of the Tyrannosaurus rex nicknamed “Thomas.”

Dr. Luis Chiappe, director of the Museum’s Dinosaur Institute, led a team of scientists, researchers and volunteers on field expeditions to excavate this T. rex specimen from a quarry in southeastern Montana. They brought it back to the Museum for research and preparation – and now that research is expected to reveal additional bones and unravel mysteries about Thomas’ life and untimely death.

When Thomas roamed the Earth 66 million years ago, he was approximately 13 years old. Nearly complete teenage T. rex specimens are rare, so he is an important part of the Museum’s unique growth series, which tracks the dinosaur’s life from youth through adulthood. The future home for Thomas and this remarkable series will be in a new dinosaur hall scheduled to open in 2011.

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