When I got to the Carnegie Museum around noon, I was so excited that my hands were shaking; not only was this going to be my first glimpse of the new T.rex mount (a replica of the one found by Kathy Wankel and one of the main subjects of John Horner's The Complete T.rex), but also the replica of Carcharodontosaurus' skull would be there! Since I got lots of good photos of Giganotosaurus when the Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park exhibit was in Columbus, I now have the "big three" in my photo reference collection (hope all the photos turn out well!). If anyone would like to see scans of the photos when I get them back in a few days, let me know.
For anyone who hasn't seen Carnegie's new T.rex mount in person, it is beautiful and dynamic. It's a little cramped in that space, I thought; it would've been nice to get a full body profile shot, and there was no way to get shots from higher angles, but I can't really complain. That T.rex is definitely a beauty!
Upon seeing the Carcharodontosaurus skull, I realized how wrong my previous sketches and artwork were on this guy. The head is VERY narrow, and the snout tapers much more than I had realized. I was able to get several good shots of the skull from many angles. Paul also brought with him a Herrerasaurus mount, which I also got good pics of.
Also new to the Museum (as far as I know) was a reconstruction of a Quetzalcoatlus above the dinosaur hall. I got good shots of that spectacular animal, and I was surprised at how long the neck really was on that species.
So anyway, that's my "report". Even though this was supposed to be a celebration of the museum's Diplodocus, I think Carcharadontosaurus and T.rex stole the show...darn popular, those predators....
-Chris Srnka