One of Rockford’s top tourist attractions turns ten this weekend. Burpee Museum of Natural Historyis holding a birthday party for “Jane,” the world’s most complete juvenile T-Rex.
It was late June in 2005 that 3000 people showed up to see Burpee Museum’s exciting new find: Jane, believed to be a young Tyrannosaurus rex, was discovered by museum volunteers during a Montana dig. Half a million visitors later, Jane is the subject of a number of documentaries, has casts of her bones in museums around the world, and attracts the most famous paleontologists to Rockford. Scott Williams is director of science and exhibits at Burpee and says he’s “very privileged to be part of the Jane Story, and see how many people Jane has made happy and inspired about paleontology, natural history, and Burpee Museum.”
Williams says 65% of Jane’s visitors come from outside the Rockford-area. Her influence is strong, from tourism to research to one small kid who visited this week: Williams says even his “grumpy old heart” was warmed when a little boy popped into the exhibit hall, waved at Jane, wished her a happy birthday, and told her he loved her.
Jane’s birthday week at Burpee culminates Saturday in visits by two of the world’s top dinosaur experts: Thomas Carr, who is about to publish his research on Jane, and Thomas Holtz, who will lead a discussion about the scientific fact and fiction in the new film, Jurassic World.
