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Step aside Kate and William, Barbara and Peter are the latest royal couple to pay New Zealand a visit. But these aren’t your regular royals, Barbara and Peter are a world-first pairing of a male and female T-Rex. A third of New Zealand’s population has already flocked to the Auckland War Memorial Museum to see the ancient power couple. Barbara is exceptionally rare as one of only three pregnant T-Rex specimens ever found.
However, there are only a few days left to see the royal couple as the exhibition ends on 10 December. Barbara was discovered in the Hell Creek Formation in northwestern Montana where she had been buried for the last 66 million years. At 38ft (11.7m) long and almost 10ft (3m) tall Barbara would have been one of the biggest predators on Earth. The palaeontologists who found Barbara believe that her protruding stomach is evidence that she was carrying eggs at the time she died.
This makes Barbara one of the rarest dinosaur specimens on Earth and a rare opportunity to examine the difference between male and female T-Rexes. At 44 per cent complete, Barbara is also the eighth most complete T-Rex specimen in the world. Experts also believe that Barbara had been injured during her lifetime, possibly in a fight with another T-Rex. A large wound on her hind legs shows signs of healing over, implying that she lived on for a long time after the injury. Her partner Peter is no less unique as one of the only four black T-Rexes ever found.
While most T-Rexes are brown, Peter’s bones are a brilliant obsidian black. Slightly smaller than Barbara at only just under 36 feet, Peter also bears the scars of past battles. Huge wounds in his hind leg suggest that Peter fought with a younger, stronger rival at the end of his life. However, it didn’t end well as the palaeontologists who have studied Peter believe that he was almost certainly killed and eaten by another T- Rex.
The specimens on display aren’t the only thing that’s historic, as Auckland Museum says the exhibition has become the most successful dinosaur display of all time. With a few days left before the exhibition closes, the museum has already welcomed 1.6 million visitors. For reference that is almost the whole population of Auckland.
David Reeves, CEO of Auckland Museum, says: ‘Barbara and Peter have provided a once-in-a-lifetime, educational experience for many, many thousands of school children. It has been a joy to see people’s reactions as they encounter these magnificent specimens for the first time.’
In addition to putting these magnificent specimens on display, Auckland Museum has also made the preliminary research on the specimens public. Dr David Burnham, of the University of Kansas and Dr John Nudds from the University of Manchester have been studying Peter and Barbara in the lab for months.
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