Carnegie's Famed Dinosaurs Get a Makeover

Courtesy Carnegie Museum of Natural History

The Carnegie Museum's Tyrannosaurus rex specimen -- the first of its kind found -- served as the basis for the original description of the species. Discovered in 1902, the T. rex will be repositioned to reflect current scientific knowledge.

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M. McNauher /Courtesy CMNH

Dinosaur mount makers Paul Zawisha (left) and Larry Lee begin to remove the head of Allosaurus fragilis at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh is in the process of making over its world-renowned dinosaur exhibit, which includes 15 soaring skeletons, some of which are several stories high. Among its dinosaur specimens is the first Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever discovered.

The specimens won't just be cleaned -- their poses will be adjusted to more accurately reflect current scientific research. Michele Norris talks with the man in charge of the project, Phil Fraley.

Fraley previously oversaw a change in posture for the T. rex fossil at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He also worked on the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History's "Sue," the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton found to date.

The delicate Carnegie Museum fossils -- some of which have been on display for nearly a century -- will be packed up in foam and shipped to Hoboken, N.J., where Fraley and his team will restore them to last another 100 years.