Film Review: American Story of T-Rex Named Sue in ‘Dinosaur 13’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on August 20, 2014 - 8:34pm

CHICAGO – Only in America can an animal die millions of years ago, have its fossilized bones discovered in the 20th Century, and end up in a court of law, determining who she belongs to as if in a child custody case. The story of the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex ever found is chronicled in the new documentary “Dinosaur 13.”

The T-Rex in question is nicknamed Sue, named after her discover Susan Hendrickson, and now resides in the Field Museum of Chicago. Hendrickson was part of a fossil-hunting-for-profit team who uncovered Sue in 1990, only to have a location dispute put her ownership rights into litigation. This story is fascinating, from the viewpoint of what land ownership means, and who owns what is found on said lands. It also is a cautionary tale about messing with the U.S. government, because as this film rightly points out, they mostly use their law enforcement and legal muscle to protect the landowner.

The fossil discovery team from the Black Hills Institute were working on a property in 1990, leased by the government to rancher Maurice Williams. As most of the team were in town to get some car repairs, Susan Hendrickson stayed behind and took a walk. On the jaunt, she found some fossilized bones that she knew had some significance. It turned out those fragments were from a Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur, buried in a hillside.

The team unearthed the treasure bit by bit, and determined that they had found a T-Rex – the 13th such dinosaur discovered in history – with 80% of her bones intact. The previous discoveries topped out at 40%. They paid rancher Williams $5000 and took their dinosaur back to their facility to restore her. In the midst of that work, the federal government raided the Black Hills Institute, and seized the T-Rex due to ownership issues. Williams claimed that he never took any money, and the dinosaur belonged to him.

“Dinosaur 13” released in theaters – including Chicago – and through Video-On-Demand on August 15th. See local listings for theaters and show times, plus television providers for VOD channels. Featured interviews include Peter Larson, Susan Hendrickson and Kristin Donnan Standard. Directed by Todd Douglas Miller. Rated “PG”