Dinosaurs Are Descending On Dunedin

Otago Museum has just announced a dinosaur-themed exhibition opening on Saturday 3 October – Dinosaur rEvolution. The travelling exhibition was created by Gondwana Studios in Australia and Otago Museum is the only South Island location.

Featuring huge animatronic dinosaurs, as well as skulls, skeletons, and fossil casts the exhibition is based on research from the Chinese Liaoning Province deposits. These fossils were extremely well preserved, and for the first time contained dinosaur skin, soft tissue, and even feathers and quills. These findings changed our image of dinosaurs forever and this exhibit displays our newfound knowledge.

“It is fascinating, I have learnt so much about dinosaurs in the last few weeks!” said Pru Jopson, Exhibitions and Creative Services Officer, who is leading the fit out of the exhibition space at Otago Museum. “They are so diverse and strange, and it is amazing to think that the last branch in the dinosaur family tree are birds and they are living with us today. I am sure our visitors are going to love this exhibition; it is so interesting”

Otago Museum are also planning an array of events, talks, and activities to complement the exhibition. Fossil finding trips, Jurassic science demos, community art projects, and expert talks are all being planned for the length of the exhibition that will be on display until 8 February 2021.

The exhibition’s focus is on the evolutionary arms-race: one order of dinosaurs – Saurischia – had feathers paired with scales, claws and sharp teeth; while the other – Ornithischia – had beaks, quills, scales, spikes, horns, and massive body armour. These are displayed in gigantic models of up to 7-metres in length and touchable fossil casts, and Dinosaur rEvolution reveals the eventual survivor.

Adults will pay children’s ticket prices for the exhibition, so all tickets will be just $10. There are also unlimited entry tickets, a first for Otago Museum. “Big exhibitions like this are expensive to bring to Dunedin, but we really wanted to make this as accessible as possible. We want everyone in our community to be able to visit, and for parents to be able to take their children along, so we are keeping the prices as low as we can. The unlimited entry ticket is pretty amazing value at $25 for as many visits as you would like for over four months”, said Kate Oktay, Acting Marketing Manager.

Information about the exhibition and the upcoming events is available on www.otagomuseum.nz/dino where you can also purchase tickets.

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