Field Museum

The museum grew out of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and moved to its lakefront building in 1921. SUE, found in South Dakota in 1990, is the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton yet discovered at around ninety percent by bulk; the specimen was the subject of a long ownership dispute and sold at auction in 1997 for over eight million dollars, with the museum backed by corporate partners. SUE was moved from the main hall to a dedicated upstairs gallery in 2018 and given gastralia - belly ribs - that had been left off. The Tsavo man-eating lions, shot in Kenya in 1898, are also here, and are maneless males, which the museum uses to explain regional lion variation.

What to look for

• SUE - about ninety percent complete, in a dedicated gallery since 2018.
• The Tsavo lions - the 1898 specimens, maneless males.
• A large anthropology collection - Egyptian, Pacific and Americas halls.
• A 1921 lakefront building - from the 1893 exposition's collections.

When to go

Year round. Half a day.

Before you go

SUE is no longer in the main hall - that is now a titanosaur cast. Special exhibitions cost extra beyond the basic ticket. School groups fill weekday mornings. The Museum Campus is exposed and cold in winter.

Nearby

Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium share the campus; Grant Park is north.

Key facts