Here is my annual life restoration of Tyrannosaurus rex for 2020, once again I have selected to feature FMNH PR 2081 Sue as my subject because, well I shouldnt really need to explain myself, its Sue.

Some key differences between this and the illustration I made in October of 2019 are, the different crouched posture and the slightly different anatomy. Instead of using a pre-existing skeletal reference I decided to create my own, by scaling all the elements figured in Brochu (2003) in correct proportion to each other. The pose I chose to use reflects the current mounted skeleton, currently on display in the Evolving Planet exhibit at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. The reason the mount had to be crouched slightly was so it could actually fit in the display hall.

The gastrilla of this new mounted skeleton are also extremely low, making the animal look very stocky and barrel chested. I have chosen to reflect this in my restoration.

You might also notice other small changes like the slightly different arrangement of epidermal scales on the maxilla and the slightly increased amount of protofeather Dino fuzz around the dorsum and arms. Just as before I have forgone the traditional avian scutes over the metatarsals.

Coincidentally Blue Rhino Studio has also just completed a life-sized model of the specimen for the Field Museum and they have also incorporated features such as the deeper gastrilla.

The length estimate I used comes from Hutchinson et al. (2011) and the weight estimate comes from Snively et al. (2019).

https://www.deviantart.com/paleonerd01/art/Sue-the-Tyrannosaurus-rex-2020-852347267