T. rex skeleton arrives in Glasgow

A 39ft (12m) Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton has arrived in Glasgow on the latest stop of its European tour.

Trix the T. rex, which weighs the same as four Mini Cooper cars, will be housed in a bespoke, climate-controlled 600 square metre pavilion at the city's Kelvin Hall.

It will be on display to the public from 18 April until 31 July.

The interactive exhibition also includes a painted reconstruction of the 5,000kg (787 stone) dinosaur.

Trix, which is 66 million years old, was discovered in Montana in the United States and is one of the three most complete T. rex skeletons in the world.

The T.rex being assembled ready for the exhibition in Glasgow

The T.rex in Town tour began in September 2016 and has visited Salzburg, Barcelona, Paris and Lisbon while waiting for a new home to be completed at the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in Leiden, Holland.

It is thought to be unlikely that the T. rex will go on such a tour again.

Remmert Schouten, conservator at the Natural History Museum of the Netherlands, is in charge of fitting together all the parts together.

"We're looking at an extraordinary complete skeleton, in terms of palaeontology," he said.

"We put that together and at the end you get the same skeleton you might have seen many times before, but it's always in a different space and it has a different setting.

"Every time, it's a surprise and a sense of awe."

He added that Trix - believed to be a female - had scars on her jaw which were caused by another T-rex which he said could either be the result of a "scrap" or a "love bite".

The T. rex will be on display to the public from 18 April until 31 July

Steph Scholten, director of The Hunterian which organised the exhibition, said he was "delighted" to welcome the fossil to Scotland.

"Bringing this major touring exhibition to the city will allow thousands of Scots, and visitors to Scotland, to see one of the world's most iconic dinosaur species," he said.

"Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons are very rare finds and Trix is the only real touring T. rex fossil in the world. This is a major coup for Glasgow, which is the only UK stop on her European tour.

"T. rex in Town offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience for visitors to come face to face with a real T. rex and learn about her life through this superb interactive exhibition.

"We hope everyone who comes to see this incredible dinosaur specimen will be as excited to see her as we are."

The T.rex skeleton was discovered in the United States and is one of only three in the world

The famous Diplodocus sculpture Dippy is also currently on display at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum across the road from Kelvin Hall where Trix is being exhibited.

Glasgow councillor David McDonald said: "Like thousands of other visitors, I am really excited to see this impressive, if slightly scary, creature take shape before my eyes.

"It's incredible to watch the skilled team from Naturalis in the Netherlands bring this extremely rare real dinosaur skeleton to life in Glasgow.

"We look forward to welcoming many dinosaur fans to Kelvin Hall over the coming months, where Glaswegians and visitors to the city can enjoy this unique opportunity to stare into the eyes of one of the most terrifying predators ever to have stalked the earth."