Foto: Koller Auktionshaus
TRX-293 Trinity

Dinosaur «Trinity» Makes a Guest Appearance at the Tonhalle Zurich

For a few weeks, something enormously large and uniquely spectacular will stand in our concert foyer: A dinosaur skeleton called Trinity.

With a length of 11.60 metres and a height of 3.9 metres, Trinity is one of the most spectacular Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons. You can see it in the concert foyer from 29 March to 16 April.

As a concertgoer, you automatically have your date with Trinity. If you can't get a concert ticket, you can book a time slot here.

Update: Please note that all timeslots are already fully booked.

The skeleton, which is around 67 million years old, is one of the most beautiful excavated specimens of one of the largest predators that inhabited the earth. TRX-293 Trinity, as it is scientifically called, is a well-preserved and brilliantly restored fossil. And its nickname Trinity is no coincidence: the more than 50 percent original bone material comes from three, presumably female, Tyrannosaurus specimens excavated between 2008 and 2013 from the Hell Creek and Lance Creek formations in Montana and Wyoming. Trinity's rarity and uniqueness is achieved by its incredibly well-preserved skull. Each of Trinity's 293 bones was painstakingly excavated, prepared, cleaned and restored before assembly.

For an entire dinosaur, this process often takes between seven and ten years – an enormous effort for a team of palaeontologists, preparators, conservators and other specialised professions in the field of fossils. According to the April 2021 scientific journal Nature, only 32 skeletons of adult Tyrannosaurus rex specimens have been found worldwide. Almost all of them are now in institutional collections.

Foto: Koller Auktionshaus
Trinity (Foto: Koller Auktionshaus)

Where Trinity will move to in the future will be revealed at the auction at Koller Auctions in Zurich on 18 April. This will be the first time in Europe and the third time worldwide that a complete dinosaur skeleton of this quality will be auctioned.

Ilona Schmiel, Artistic Director of the Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich, is also delighted about the great guest: «As the operator of the Tonhalle Zürich, it is our concern to keep our doors open to everyone. We don't show a dinosaur every day, a unique opportunity to welcome people to us who don't yet know us and the magnificent concert foyer».

TRX-293 «Trinity»

Species - Tyrannosaurus rex
Age - The bone material dates from the Late Cretaceous and
is thus 65 to 67 million years old
Locations - Three excavation sites in the Hell Creek
and Lance Creek formations in Montana and Wyoming
Dimensions - Length: 11.60 m / Height: 3.90 m / Width: 2.65 m
Skull: 140 × 120 cm
Provenance - US Private Collection

Translated with DeepL.com

published: 12.03.2023

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