LEHI, Utah – The fossil cast of a Gorgosaurus has been unveiled at Thanksgiving Point. The 72-million-year-old dinosaur was discovered by a Montana family and donated to the facility.
Ruby the Gorgosaurus, on display at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah.
Nicknamed “Ruby” because of the family who discovered her, the genetic cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex was a unique find for scientists.
Ruby was the first dinosaur that has been found with evidence of a brain tumor.
“They think that the brain tumor led to her having some sort of vertigo, and she fell a lot and broke a lot of bones,” said Josh Berndt, communications director for Thanksgiving Point. “You can see some of her bones that were broken, healed and then stuck out of her skin.”
Scientists said the tumor was about the size of a golf ball.
“She led a really painful life – had some bad infections – and she had cancer. She was only 22 years old when she died,” Berndt said.
The Gorgosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous Period in western North America. (Shutterstock)
Cliff and Sandy Linster first found Ruby’s fossils in 1997 among hundreds of Maiasaura duckbill dinosaur bones.
“This family in Montana, the Linsters – who are great friends of Thanksgiving Point – found a Bambiraptor in 1993, I believe. That dinosaur is inside the museum [as well],” Berndt said. “The same family has found multiple dinosaurs on their property. It’s pretty wild.”
The Gorgosaurus was a tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous Period in the western part of North America. It was smaller than the Tyrannosaurus Rex, with longer limbs.
For details on the Dinosaur Museum, visit thanksgivingpoint.org.
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