The "oldest and newest volunteer" has come to campus, according to McClung Museum director Jefferson Chapman.
He is referring to the 2,400-pound Edmontosaurus dinosaur unveiled Friday morning in the plaza in front of the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture. More than 60 people were in attendance, including Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett.
The dinosaur is a cast mold of a real Edmontosaurus dinosaur, much like the one McClung currently houses the bones of in its "Geology and Fossil History of Tennessee" permanent exhibit. It was cast by Art Castings of Colorado from skeleton molds from Triebold Paleontology.
For Chapman, the experience of putting together the exhibit has been a labor of love. The dinosaur traveled more than two days from Colorado uncovered in a truck bed, causing major traffic jams, according to Chapman.