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The Tyrannosaurus rex, which was found buried in sediment next to a Triceratops, is believed to be fighting with the dinosaur at the time of its death.
The first 100% complete T.rex ever found, it will soon be on display in a museum in North Carolina.
Dubbed the “ dueling dinosaurs, ” the pair were preserved together in what is believed to be a predator-prey encounter 67 million years ago.
Professionals have said that dinosaur body contours, skin impressions, and even injuries, such as the T-Rex’s teeth stuck in the Triceratops body, are still visible.
The remains were first discovered in 2006 in Montana, United States, by fossil hunters. So far, they have only been seen by a few dozen people.
It took years to extract the 14-ton skeletons and arrange for their purchase by the nonprofit Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for an undisclosed sum.
Most T. rex skeletons are held by museums and private institutions.
The nonprofit has since donated the fossils to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, which is due to start building a dedicated exhibit next year.
Dueling dinosaurs, which have yet to be studied, have been described as “one of the most important paleontological discoveries of our time.”
Dr Lindsay Zanno, head of paleontology at the museum, said:
This fossil will forever change our view of the world’s two favorite dinosaurs. Preservation is phenomenal, and we plan to use all available technological innovations to reveal new information on the biology of T. rex and Triceratops.
T. rex also has skin prints – fossilized remains of skin surfaces – which are extremely rare.
The explanation behind how the dinosaur was so well preserved could be due to the fact that it was found buried in the sediments of the Montana hill.
Each bone is always in its natural position, which means scientists will have access to biological data that is typically lost in the excavation and preparation processes.
The fossil hunters who discovered the dinosaurs are said to have struck a deal with the landowners.
But, a legal battle over the ownership of the skeletons, which are worth millions of dollars, quickly ensued.
About 14 years later, in June of this year, a US appeals court ruled that the fossils belonged to the owners of the surface rights of the earth.
The “ Dueling Dinosaurs ” were first auctioned in 2013 at Bonhams in New York, but no bids reached the reserve price of $ 6million (£ 4.5million).
During years of negotiations, the fossil would have been locked up in laboratories or warehouses – until now.
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