The Field Museum’s newest resident will soon tower over Stanley Field Hall, as crews worked Wednesday to move a new dinosaur into the building.
The dinosaur, a Titanosaur named Maximo, is twice as long as the hall’s former occupant Sue, and will be 122-feet long when it’s fully assembled.
Maximo, whose name means “maximum” or “most” in Spanish, lived about 100 million years ago and was a herbivore, according to scientists. The dinosaur’s fossil was discovered in 2014 in Argentina, and from there, scientists used the bones to create a cast.
That cast, shipped in 12 pieces to Chicago, is currently being assembled, and includes a 2000 pound spine that had to be lifted into the museum by a crane.
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Unlike Sue, the Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton that formerly occupied the space, Maximo can actually be touched and visitors can walk between its legs when it’s completed. Museum guests will also be able to go to the second floor and take selfies with Maximo’s face in view, according to the museum.
Maximo will make his public debut on June 1, and Sue, who was dismantled by the museum earlier this year, will be moved to the second floor, where a new exhibit is currently being constructed.
