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All kids dream of owning their own pet dinosaur . But dissecting one ?
Dream or not , the National Geographic Channel is set to make dinosaur dissection a reality — or at least as close to realness as possible . With the help of a particular - effects store and congius of coloured corn - sirup " blood , " three paleontologists and a veterinary surgeon come the hazard to go inside a life - size of it , anatomically realisticTyrannosaurus rexfor a new goggle box exceptional airing Sunday , June 7 at 9 p.m. EDT/8 p.m. CDT ) .
Matthew Mossbrucker, director and curator of the Morrison Natural History Museum in Colorado, shares his dinosaur expertise in “T. rex Autopsy."
Live Science verbalise to Matthew Mossbrucker , one of the stars of the particular , called " T. rexAutopsy . " Mossbrucker , director and curator of the Morrison Natural History Museum in Colorado , explain via email the temptingness of slicing up a fakeT. rexfor television .
Live Science : So . analyse a life - sizedT. rexmodel : Why ? Just … why ?
Mossbrucker : Why not ?
The T. rex’s stomach and intestines (covered in corn-syrup “blood”) have been removed in “T. rex Autopsy."
This is a new mintage of dinosaur documentary . Come for the gore ; bide for the science . Sure , there ’s a camp second of " Saw " meet " Jurassic Park " with a dollop of " Sharknado , " but there is literal skill behind the special . Through " T. rexAutopsy , " we communicate the latest research and findings aboutT. rexto the viewer at domicile . [ See ' Gory ' exposure of the T. Rex Autopsy ]
Personally , I have intercourse the idea of taking an creature that is reckon of as a fearsome , bloodthirsty killer and exposing the real animal beneath the pop - acculturation lore . Dinosaurs are not ogre ; they ’re creature with the same frailty and general experiences of today ’s critters . Through " T. rexAutopsy , " we can explore organ system that all bony critters — including us — share . We even touch ondinosaur genitals and reproduction .
You ’re welcome .
Dr. Steve Brusatte and Matthew T. Mossbrucker lift the T. rex' stomach out of the body.
LS : What was this fauxT. rexmade out of ?
Mossbrucker : Latex and love . The squad at Crawley Creatures — thevisual - effects wizardsthat built the dissectible model — free-base it on the very former research and genuine fossils . It was build using 113 piece of fiberglass , woodwind instrument , steel , latex , silicone , foam and gallons of level blood . The dinosaur took 10,000 creative person hour and five and a one-half month to build — and over 30 hour to totally cut asunder .
LS : No discourtesy to your slice - and - dice role in this , but it seems like it would take more scientific discipline to make a realisticT. rexthan to cut one up . How much scientific discipline went into making this example ? Did you find it realistic ?
Mossbrucker : Offense get hold of ! You ’ve besmirched our fine model !
While there is always way for improvement , it turns out that we knowTyrannosaurus rexfairly well . The fossil themselves provide a wealth of data , from dieting to movement and more . The context of the tilt we find them [ the fossils ] in property " Rex " in the " when " and " where " — the ecosystem it was a part of so long ago . The relative anatomy of modern brute gives us insight into the character of this animal that are n’t yet jazz . We can dissect and compareT. rexcousinslike chicken and alligator to give us brainstorm . For an animal never seen active by humans , we know an nasty pile about the Tyrant King .
I may have pick off the savage here and there , but it was a strong effort . Frankly , if you were to get five dino - oddball in the same way and ask them to create their vision of aT. male monarch , you’d get 23 unlike interpretations . TheT. rexmodel from " Autopsy " is conservative and defendable .
LS : You do n’t get to meditate dinosaur viscera in actual liveliness , but bone can be surprisingly informative . What is the coolest thing we can learn from fossilized skeletons ?
Skeletons are a glorious ( and sometimes elusive ) record of an animate being ’s physical appearance , ecological niche and evolutionary heritage . A fossil skeleton of an out animal is a gateway to deepening our understanding of how life on this planet has adapt and survived time and again . quenching ping it down , but life comes back . As the illustrious Dr. Ian Malcolm [ from " Jurassic Park " ] allege , " Because life , uh , find oneself a way . "
LS : T. rexgets all the tending . What lesser - known dinosaur do you want to fake - dissect next ?
Brontosaurus .
