Tyrannosaurus Mounted, 1916
Having found the first Tyrannosaurus specimen in 1902, Barnum Brown and the recovered a second one for the American Museum of Natural History in 1908, in the same location, Hell Creek, Montana. Between the two the Museum had a virtually complete skeleton, wanting only the belly ribs and fore-arms. Consequently the 1908 skeleton was prepared for mounting, supplemented as necessary with casts from the 1902 specimen, and the mount was completed in 1915. In this dramatic photograph, taken by Abram Anderson, we see the power of this wonderful mount. The jaw is wide, the head is cocked, the tail is sinuously curved, and the animals strides forcefully forward.
The photograph reproduced here is actually one of three on the folding plate; the other two show Tyrannosaurus from the side and rear. Because of the brittle and glossy paper, the entire plate does not photograph well, but it can be viewed below.
One interesting feature of the photographs is that they were retouched, removing all traces of the heavy iron framework that supported the skeleton.
This mount stood in the American Museum until 1993, when it was dismantled and reassembled in order to conform with modern ideas of Tyrannosaurus posture.
Three Views of the First T. rex Mount, 1916
These three photographs of the newly completed Tyrannosaurus mount at the American Museum of Natural History were taken in 1915 by Abram Anderson. Dinosaur photographers do not seem to have received the attention of dinosaur artists such as Charles Knight, but Anderson certainly made his mark. In addition to these classic photographs he also took the famous photograph of the Trachodon mummy that was first published by Osborn in 1912 and then by Sternberg in 1917. And he also has to his credit a beautiful photograph of the skull of T. rex that was found by Barnum Brown in 1908.
The text to the article accompanying this plate explains that the photographs were retouched, removing all traces of the heavy iron framework that supported the skeleton. It is left unsaid whether Anderson did this retouching, or whether he even approved of it.
The T. rex Skull, 1912
In 1907, Barnum Brown led another American Museum Expedition back to Hell Creek, Montana, where the first Tyrannosaurus skeleton had been discovered in 1902. The Expedition was successful in discovering a second T. rex skeleton. And whereas the first specimen had only an imperfect skull, this second one was found with a nearly complete skull. The skull was first published here in 1912 and included a dramatic photograph by Abram E. Anderson.
Interestingly, Anderson took a photograph of the right side of the skull as well, but Osborn did not publish it. That had to wait for W. D. Matthew’s little pamphlet of 1915, where it appeared as the frontispiece.