Sue

Sue, a dinosaur fossil (Tyrannosaurus rex)

Sue, nickname for one of the most complete and best-preserved skeletons of Tyrannosaurus rex. The fossil was dated to approximately 67 million years ago. Measuring 12.8 metres (42 feet) long, Sue is among the largest known skeletons of T. rex. The specimen was found on August 12, 1990, on South Dakota’s Cheyenne River Sioux reservation, on a cattle ranch owned by Maurice Williams. It was discovered by American marine archaeologist and paleontologist Susan Hendrickson, the scientist for whom the specimen is named, as she searched the property with American paleontologist Peter Larson.

For the next 10 years the specimen was the subject of an intense custody battle. Shortly after the discovery was made, Larson paid $5,000 to Williams—who was one-fourth Native American and whose land was held in trust by the United States government for tax-relief purposes—for the right to excavate the skeleton. Sue was subsequently shipped to the headquarters of the Black Hills Institute for Geological Research in Hill City, South Dakota, for restoration. As news about the discovery traveled, however, Larson began to receive sizable offers for the specimen, and Williams, the Cheyenne River Sioux, and the federal government began to raise questions about its legal ownership and to seek its return. Williams alleged that he had granted Larson the right to search for fossils on the property but not the right to excavate and claim them. The case was further complicated by the fact that the specimen’s sale required the consent of the U.S. Department of the Interior because of Williams’s existing legal arrangement with the federal government. Williams neither sought nor received such permission.

Federal agents seized the bones in 1992 on the grounds that government permission had not been granted for the removal of the fossil from federal lands. A U.S. district court ruled in April 1993 that the fossil was to remain property of the trust, and the U.S. Supreme Court validated the ruling of the lower court in October 1994. Sue became the property of Williams and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

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The BIA gave Williams permission to sell Sue and suggested that the fossil be auctioned. This move was controversial in the eyes of many scientists, who feared the commercialization and possible private collection of scientifically important specimens. Nevertheless, in 1996 the art auction firm Sotheby’s was chosen to conduct the sale, which was held in October 1997, with nine bidders in the running. After only about eight minutes, Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History—backed by McDonald’s Corporation, Walt Disney World Resorts, and the California State University system—emerged as the winner, purchasing Sue for $8,362,500. Disney was given a replica for exhibition at Walt Disney World, and McDonald’s received two replicas that would be taken on tour.

The remainder of Sue’s preparation for display was carried out in the McDonald’s Fossil Preparation Laboratory at the Field Museum in full view of spectators. Because the dinosaur’s 1.5-metre- (5-foot-) long skull was too heavy (272 kg [600 pounds]) for the skeleton to support, a life-size cast was mounted to the rest of the skeleton for the exhibit. Sue’s actual skull was displayed on the museum’s second-floor balcony. The fossil has been on permanent display at the Field Museum since May 17, 2000.