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Sue The T. Rex Getting Kicked Out Of Field Entrance Hall; New Dino Coming

By Kelly Bauer | August 30, 2017 8:33am | Updated on August 30, 2017 8:37am
 Sue, the Field Museum's beloved T. rex, is being moved to her own room while a titanosaur takes over the museum's main entrance hall.
Sue, the Field Museum's beloved T. rex, is being moved to her own room while a titanosaur takes over the museum's main entrance hall.
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DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner

DOWNTOWN — Sue the T. rex will no longer greet Field Museum visitors in the entrance hall — but the beloved dinosaur will get her own room.

Sue will be removed from her current spot in February and make her debut in her own gallery in spring 2019, according to the Field Museum. A cast of a titanosaur — a dinosaur with a long neck and tail — will take over the spot where Sue once stood in the museum's Stanley Field Hall.

"For years now, I've been pitching this to the museum," Sue wrote on Twitter, where the sassy dinosaur is followed by more than 28,000 people. "A room with a better defensible position against velociraptor attacks and reduced exposure to possible meteorite collisions. Finally, the mammals in charge have come to their senses."

Sue's new room in the Evolving Planet exhibition will feature fossils that were found alongside the T. rex, giving visitors a glimpse into the world where Sue roamed. The move will also place Sue closer to other dinosaurs, including the Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus, according to the Field Museum.

Sue will get a makeover herself as part of the changes: It turns out the T. rex was heftier than most imagine, but her exhibit has been missing the gastralia bones that would show Sue's "bulging belly," according to the Field.

The museum now understands better how Sue's gastralia — which resemble "an additional set of ribs stretched about T. rex's belly" — worked and where they appeared in her body, so the bones will be added to her exhibit, according to the Field.

And Sue's pose will be updated so she's "walking rather than skulking," according to the Field. Sue's arms will be adjusted and her wishbone will be moved.

Sue's replacement in the Stanley Field Hall, the titanosaur cast, is expected to be revealed toward the end of spring 2018. Visitors will be able to watch as Sue is removed and the titanosaur is installed.

The titanosaur cast is tall enough that its head will reach the museum's second-floor balcony. It's about "25 Danny DeVitos" in length (or 122 feet snout to tail), according to the museum, and probably weighed 70 tons.

Visitors will be able to walk under the massive titanosaur cast, touch it and take photos with it from the museum balcony. Some of the titanosaur's bones — like an 8-foot-long thighbone — will also be on display.

Sue, the largest and most complete T. rex found, has been in the entrance hall since 2000. Before then, other dinosaurs filled the space.

There will be a send-off party for Sue before her temporary hiatus, according to the Field, but details for the event haven't been revealed yet.

Sue appeared to take the news in stride on Wednesday, though not all of her fans were excited: