Sue (dinosaur)
Sue is the nickname given to FMNH PR 2081, which is the largest, most extensive and best preserved "Tyrannosaurus rex" specimen ever found, at over 90% recovered by bulk. It was discovered in August 1990, by Sue Hendrickson, an explorer and fossil collector, and was named after her. After ownership disputes were settled, the fossil was auctioned in October 1997, for US $8.3 million, the highest amount ever paid for a dinosaur fossil, and is now a permanent feature at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois.
Ichthyosaur
In the early 20th century, ichthyosaur research was dominated by the German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene, who wrote an extensive series of articles, taking advantage of an easy access to the many specimens found in his country. The amount of anatomical data was hereby vastly increased. Von Huene also travelled widely abroad, describing many fossils from locations outside of Europe. During the 20th century, North America became an important source of new fossils. In 1905, the Saurian Expedition led by John Campbell Merriam of the University of California and financed by Annie Montague Alexander, found 25 specimens in central Nevada, which were under a shallow ocean during the Triassic. Several of these are now in the collection of the University of California Museum of Paleontology. Other specimens are embedded in the rock and visible at Berlin–Ichthyosaur State Park in Nye County. In 1977, the Triassic ichthyosaur "Shonisaurus" became the state fossil of Nevada. Nevada is the only state to possess a skeleton of this 17-m-long (60-ft) extinct marine reptile. In 1992, Canadian ichthyologist Dr. Elizabeth Nicholls (curator of marine reptiles at the Royal Tyrrell Museum) uncovered the largest known specimen, a 23-m-long (75-ft) example, though this larger specimen was later reclassified as the related "Shastasaurus".