One of Most Complete T. Rex Skulls Ever Arrives at Museum

It may look like a giant rock right now, but inside is what dinosaur expert Jack Horner calls "one of the most significant" Tyrannosaurus rex specimens ever found, the AP reports. According to the Seattle Times, a 2,500-pound, plaster-encased lump of dirt and rock arrived at the Burke Museum in Seattle on Thursday. In October, a team will remove the nearly 4-foot Tyrannosaurus skull hiding inside. It's one of the 15 most complete Tyrannosaurus skulls in the world. Researchers hope to use the skull to learn more about the Tyrannosaurus' jaw strength and eating habits.

The skull comes from a 40-foot-long Tyrannosaurus that died 66 million years ago and was found buried in Montana by two Burke Museum volunteers—Luke Tufts and Jason Love. So far, 20% of the dinosaur's bones have been dug up, and researchers are confident there are still more to be found at the site. The museum plans to put the Tyrannosaurus skull on exhibit in March and hopes to display the entire skeleton in 2019. It will be the first major dinosaur specimen on display in Washington, KIRO reports. "We think the Tufts-Love Rex is going to be an iconic specimen for the Burke Museum and the state of Washington," the AP quotes a museum curator as saying. (More Tyrannosaurus rex stories.)