Gorgosaurus skeleton comes to UK in Manchester first

July 2014

The complete skeleton of a Gorgosaurus, a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex and start of the Royal Society 2014 summer exhibition, has gone on display in Manchester Museum, thanks to the generosity of University of Manchester alumni.

This fearsome individual, who was thought to be female, is one of the most complete specimens ever found and exhibits numerous pathologies which can help us to understand how tough dinosaurs were and potentially the ancient origins of modern diseases.

ICAL director, Phil Manning says "What's really interesting is that this massive beast seems to have shrugged-off injuries and diseases that would have proved fatal to humans if not treated. She just kept going. Our team is trying to understand the chemistry that initiated the healing of bones in this Gorgosaurus using a suite of imaging techniques. If we can work out the processes that regulated the healing and repair of injuries in a 70-million-year-old dinosaur, perhaps we can apply that to 21^st Century knowledge to help diagnose, treat and heal humans."

The fossil of this particular dinosaur was discovered in Montana, USA. Just 20 Gorgosaurus specimens have ever been found, all in North America. Visitors to Manchester Museum are able to see a fully assembled cast of the fossil on display in the main foyer - it has had many visitors already!

As part of the purchase of this cast, the ICAL team has been granted access to the original skeleton, which is on permanent display in the Children's Museum, and will be examining it using both microtomography and synchrotron imaging.