Rare, Nearly Complete T. Rex Skeleton to Arrive at Smithsonian Natural History Museum in April

One of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons on the planet will arrive at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. on April 15, the museum said Friday.

The T. rex skeleton, which will be the first the museum has ever had, has been sitting in storage in 16 carefully packed shipping containers since October, when a congressional budget impasse led to the 16-day shutdown of all non-essential federal government operations, several of which would play a role in transporting the skeleton from its home in the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont. to the Smithsonian.

The Smithsonian originally planned to receive the skeleton in October after securing a 50-year loan agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers to transfer the rare T. rex, which was found in Montana on federal land in 1988.

After the government restarted, the window of opportunity to move the skeleton across the country had passed. Handlers did not want to risk transporting the priceless specimine through winter weather.

After the T. rex arrives, each one of its bones will be digitally scanned, which will allow the museum and other institutions with access to the data to 3D-print replicas of the skeleton in any size they choose.

Friday's announcement of the skeleton's arrival date came as the museum unveiled a new cast of the incoming T. rex's skull, which is on view in the Constitution Avenue lobby.

The T. rex is to be the centerpiece of the museum's new 31,000-square-foot national fossil hall, which will open in 2019.

The museum's current fossil hall will close April 28 in order to begin the redesign and construction process.

While the new dinosaur hall is being constructed, the museum will continue to display fossils around other parts of the museum, officials said.

"I am sure our visitors will be pleased that dinosaurs will continue to be on view at the Smithsonian while the new national fossil hall is being built," museum director Kirk Johnson said in a statement. "The entire Natural History Museum will be alive with excitement as we begin a journey to tell the story of prehistoric Earth by welcoming one of its most famous ambassadors, the Tyrannosaurus rex."

The new dinosaur exhibition space is financed by David Koch, whose $35 million gift to the museum is the largest in its history. Koch is well known for his philanthropy of the arts, as well as his funding of conservative thinktanks, including those skeptical of antropogenic climate change.