Stan (dinosaur) facts for kids
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| Catalog number | BHI 3033 |
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| Common name | Stan |
| Species | Tyrannosaurus rex |
| Age | between 67 and 65.5 million years |
| Date discovered | 1987 |
| Discovered by | Stan Sacrison |
Stan is the nickname for a famous fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex, often called T. rex for short. This amazing dinosaur lived millions of years ago. Stan is special because it's one of the most complete T. rex fossils ever found!
Discovering Stan
Stan the T. rex fossil was found in 1987. It was discovered by a person named Stan Sacrison. He found the fossil in a place called the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota, USA.
The original fossil of Stan is kept at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. This is a special place where scientists study old rocks and fossils.
What Makes Stan Special?
Stan is one of the most complete T. rex fossils ever found. Scientists were able to recover 199 bones from the skeleton. This is a lot of bones for a dinosaur fossil! Having so many bones helps scientists learn more about how T. rex lived.
Stan is also very big. The fossil measures about 10.9 meters (about 36 feet) long. That's longer than a school bus!
Copies of Stan
Because Stan is so famous and complete, many copies have been made. These copies are called casts. A cast is like a perfect model of the original fossil.
About 30 casts of Stan have been sold to museums and other places around the world. Each cast costs a lot of money, around $100,000! This means many people can see and learn about Stan, even if they can't visit the original fossil.
Images for kids
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A cast of Stan the T. rex at the Manchester Museum.
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Photo of the original Stan Fossil (on the right) was taken at Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc. from Hill City, South Dakota.
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A cast of Stan at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.
