To paraphrase one of the greatest cinema ‘classics’, “If there’s something strange in your neighbourhood Who you gonna call?” (Ghostbusters)
TNT, one of the world’s largest express delivery companies, has safely transported the skull of a Tyrannosaurus rex owned by the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in the Netherlands from the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in South Dakota, to the Fraunhofer EZRT research institute in Fuerth, Germany.
The well-preserved skull belongs to a 66 million-year-old female T. rex excavated in Montana in 2013 and acquired by Naturalis in 2014. The original skeleton will be displayed at Naturalis in the Dutch city of Leiden in September 2016.
After arriving at Fraunhofer EZRT in Fuerth, the fossil underwent a high-resolution CT scan, designed to provide detailed 3D X-ray images of its structure. Naturalis and Fraunhofer EZRT will present the research findings later this month and TNT will transport the specimen back to the United States.
The 690 kg skull made the 7,800 km journey from the U.S. in a 1.90-metre long wooden crate, carefully prepared and sealed. TNT drove the skull over a distance of 2,785 km from South Dakota to JFK airport in New York, flew it to its air hub in Liege using a Boeing 747, and then trucked it to Fuerth. Regular status updates were provided throughout the journey. On the way back, the skull will make a stopover in Amsterdam for a national TV show. The specially-branded TNT truck used for the transport is equipped with state-of-the-art tracking technology and driven by ‘special services’ drivers from the Homo Sapiens species.
“We are proud to assist the Naturalis Biodiversity Centre in bringing a rare T. rex skeleton to Europe,” said Grant Cochrane, Global Special Services Director, TNT.
“We have the required expertise and a history of delivering very special cargo. But this is our first opportunity to handle a prehistoric item of such research value,” Cochrane said.
“It is clear evidence that there are no limits for our services and no matter how unusual a request might be, we can always work out tailor made solutions,” added Stelios Stylianakis, TNT’s CGM Cyprus and Lead FD SEE & Turkey.
