To this powerful armament was added the great sharp
claws of the hind feet, and probably the fore feet, curved like those
of eagles, but six or eight inches in length.
During ten years explorations in the Western Cretaceous formations,
Mr. Brown has secured for the Museum three skeletons of this
magnificent dinosaur, incomplete, but finely preserved. The first,
found in 1900, included the jaws, a large part of backbone and ribs,
and some limb bones. The second included most of skull and jaws,
backbone, ribs and pelvis and the hind limbs and feet, but not tail.
The third consisted of a perfect skull and jaws, the backbone, ribs,
pelvis and nearly all of the tail, but no limbs. From these three
specimens it has been possible to reconstruct the entire skeleton. The
exact construction of the fore feet is the only doubtful part. The
fore-limb is very small relatively to the huge size of the animal, but
probably was constructed much as in the _Allosaurus_ with two or three
large curved claws, the inner claw opposing the others.
[Illustration: Fig. 14.--Quarry from which the _Tyrannosaurus_
skeleton was taken. American Museum camp in foreground.]
The missing parts of the two best skeletons have been restored, and
with the help of two small models of the skeleton, a group has been
made ready for mounting as the central piece of the proposed
Cretaceous Dinosaur Hall. One of the skeletons is temporarily placed
in the centre of the Quaternary Hall, space for it in the present
Dinosaur Hall being lacking.
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