Make a date to meet Jane at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford. Of course, we're talking about the Jane, one of the 10 most important dinosaur discoveries in the past 100 years. From the Badlands to the Burpee, on display through 2005, provides pictures, videos and a timeline of Jane's historic find. Jane's skeleton is scheduled to be unveiled to the public for the first time ever on June 29.

The Burpee Museum of Natural History was created as a Works Progress Administration project. The Museum was established in 1941 and opened on May 24, 1942. The current complex is made up of four buildings—the Manny Mansion, the Barnes Mansion, the Solem Wing, and the Water Lab.
The Solem Wing is the public portion of Burpee Museum. Built in the winter of 1998, the Solem Wing houses the Museum's exhibits, meeting rooms, laboratories, gift shop, and the Mahlburg Auditorium. It is named after Robert H. Solem who was a major benefactor, patron, and friend of the Museum.
The Manny Mansion was owned by John P. Manny and was built in 1852. Formerly the Burpee Art Museum, it is now attached to the south side of the Solem Wing and houses Museum classrooms and offices.
Prior to the expansion, the Burpee Museum was housed entirely in the Barnes Mansion. Built in 1893, the mansion was owned by industrialist William Fletcher Barnes. Today, the Barnes Mansion houses meeting rooms and the administrative offices.
The Water Lab (funded by Aqua Aerobic)is a modern lab facility along the Rock River in which students in grades 6 through high school collect water samples from the river and analyze them for various physical, chemical and biological parameters
Jane-Diary of a Dinosaur
T-Rex that was put together with three dinos.
T-Rex that was put together with three dinos.
Jane the Rockford T. rex is a renowned juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex discovered in the Hell Creek Formation in southern Montana. After four years of preparation, Jane is now on display as the centerpiece of a new exhibit at Burpee Museum—Jane: Diary of a Dinosaur. She was 11 years old at death. Visitors are able to discover what happened during the 66 million years she lay buried, visit a re-creation of the expedition’s Montana base camp, and view Jane’s fully restored 21-foot skeleton. Jane is half as big as her adult counterpart "Sue," who is 43 feet long and resides at Chicago's Field Museum.
Jane's weight was probably nearly 1,500 lbs. Jane’s big feet and long powerful legs indicate she was built for speed and could possibly run as fast as 20-30 miles per hour. Jane’s lower jaw has 17 finely curved, serrated, razor-sharp teeth designed to tear into flesh. Jane's sex is undetermined. She is named after Burpee Museum benefactor Jane Solem. Jane was found in the summer of 2001 by Carol Tuck and Bill Harrison. Ms. Tuck and Mr. Harrison were team members of an expedition led by Burpee Museum curator Michael Henderson.

Homer's horns on display.
Rockford's Jane exhibit also contains several scale casts of other dinosaurs, including a 40-foot Tyrannosaurus rex. To be joining Jane on exhibit is Homer, a subadult Triceratops fossil discovered in the Hell Creek Formation in southern Montana by Helmuth Redschlag in July of 2005.
Jane the dinosaur's skull replica.
In July of 2006 The Science Channel aired "The Mystery Dinosaur", a one-hour documentary on the discovery and continuing scientific argument over whether Jane is a juvenile T. rex or an adult Nanotyrannus lancensis. "The Mystery Dinosaur" aired on the Discovery Channel in the fall of 2006.
In March of 2007, Jane was nominated as one of Illinois' Seven Wonders.
The Carboniferous Coal Forest

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737 North Main Street,Rockford, IL 61103
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