Worlds largest T-Rex gets ready to say goodbye for 2023

The year is coming to a close for the world's largest T-Rex.

Scotty, the world's biggest tyrannosaurus rex ever unearthed, will have to wait till next year before seeing anyone new. That's because the T-Rex Discovery Centre will be closing for the season this weekend. 

While this summer was a little slower than in years prior, it was still a Jurassic action-packed couple of months for 2023. 

Scotty stands tall over a crowd that has come to see her for the day. 

Aimee Castillo, the visitor experience supervisor at the T-Rex Discovery Centre, was thrilled to see everyone who made it out to experience the displays, fossils, and events they hosted. 

"We still had a lot of fun this summer and welcomed over 8,000 visitors," said Castillo. "It was still an amazing summer."

Folks who came down to Eastend to visit Castillo and the other dinosaur experts working the Centre were able to learn about all sorts of dinosaurs, like the newest addition, Omâcîw the Tylosaurus, on display. 

Omâcîw, posed in a dynamic fashion to illustrate a more lively nature than his current fossilized state. 

"We have the background that shows what a tylosaurus looked like instead of just the skeleton," commented Castillo. "It gives the public a better picture, or better visual, on what the species looked like."

Omâcîw was an ocean-dwelling creature, being adapted to hunting their prey in what would have been an inland sea that covered modern-day Saskatchewan. Living during the late Cretaceous period, the likes of Omâcîw haven't seen the light of day in 70 million years.

Outside of the new and recently uncovered, there was plenty still being uncovered by the paleontologists who work through the summer at the Centre. 

Carefully, slowly, and very deliberately pieces are plucked away from the fossil.

"The fossils that we've collected and the ones that our paleontologists brought, the students were preparing those," said Castillo. 

Paleo Students who work throughout the summer can often be seen cleaning specimens, and removing bits of earth and cast from the fossils. They are freely approachable and are often quite happy to answer any questions you have about what they are doing. 

The area the fossils are cleaned in is the same space many of the classes from earlier in the summer do their projects in, called the Paleo Lab. 

Kids and parents alike can enjoy the Paleo Lab.

"We invite different schools from neighbouring towns to visit us," explained Castillo. "We had a lot of schools this year as well, so that was nice to offer."

June is often the busiest month for the Centre, as kids come from the classroom to the Centre to learn about dinosaurs, paleontology, and some fun stuff about the work surrounding them. 

A newer program was also opened up for high schools, offering teenagers a chance to learn about biology and evolution at the Centre. 

Some of the older kids may not seem too entertained, but they can occasionally be caught reading the plaques and displays, learning when no one is looking. 

Kids often enjoy playing in the Paleo Lab, which includes various fossil tables, where children dig up dinosaur bones and other bits. Another is the topography table, which lets children freely mould some sand, onto which a projector displays the different height levels, defining a sea level, and even mountain tops. 

An island with a bay! All the sand is coloured by the projector, which also displays fish in the water, and bunnies on the land. 

One of the cooler displays is the microscope. A case of specimens is provided, allowing the user to examine them up close on a screen. One of the best is a piece of amber with a mosquito in it, like the one from the motion picture, Jurassic Park. 

No one has attempted to harvest any pre-historic blood from this mosquito, as the movie magic wouldn't actually work the same outside the big screen.

Of course, with a topic as big as dinosaurs, not everything can be done inside the centre itself. They offer a trail to be explored, and a few spots to be examined. 

Also, the members of the Centre tend to venture into Eastend to partake in bigger events. The biggest and most looked forward to event is Dino Days, in which Castillo and other members break out some puppets for each year to bring along in the parade. 

The team all ready to go for Dino Days, 2023. 

"It's great to have visitors from all over," said Castillo. "It's when we offer our one-day dinosaur treasure hunt and that's always nice to plan and to see visitors enjoying the program."

There is still time this year, with the Centre closing only after this weekend. If anyone wants to make the drive down for one last trip, Castillo and the others will be more than eager to give a few final tours for summer 2023. 

In the end, if you missed out on Scotty and everyone else at the T-Rex Discovery Centre this year, that's okay. Most of the fossils have waited without complaint for millions of years, and will still be waiting next year for the next batch of curious people to stop by. 

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