World First T-Rex Exhibition Exclusive to Sydney's Australian Museum

A unique dinosaur exhibition featuring prehistoric fossils – specimens never before displayed outside China has been opened at the Australian Museum.

Exclusive to Sydney and NSW, the blockbuster exhibition, called Tyrannosaurs, showcases the real ‘T-Rex’ and all of its ancestors for the first time in one place demonstrates, with the use of innovative technology, how this dinosaur became the top predator of its time.

“The Australian Museum is the first institution in the world to present this particular T-Rex exhibition, which is expected to attract significant interest from around Australia and internationally, and generate around $20 million in direct visitor expenditure alone, with a much greater overall economic impact,” Minister for Tourism, Major Events and the Arts, George Souris said.

“The exhibition presents some of the most exciting developments in dinosaur palaeontology in recent years, including a world-first link between birds and dinosaurs.”

Tyrannosaurs comprises a selection of real Tyrannosaur fossils, models, animations, a complete cast of the largest Tyrannosaur skeleton ever discovered and Augmented Reality technology to create interactive activities for Tyrannosaurs, which has never before been used in an exhibition by an Australian museum.

“Blockbuster exhibitions and loans such as Tyrannosaurs are very much sought after internationally and I am proud the NSW Government, through its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, is able to support Sydney exclusive exhibitions such as this at the Australian Museum,” Mr Souris said.

Australian Museum Director, Frank Howarth, said Tyrannosaurs is a fresh and original approach to exhibitions and programs at the Australian Museum — one which reveals the excitement of discovery and our ongoing commitment to scientific investigation.

“The Australian Museum, in collaboration with the Beijing Museum of Natural History, is hot on the tail of the relatively unknown Tyrannosaur family tree. Using unique and emerging technologies, we can now bring to our audiences the digitally fleshed out bones of previous specimens to debunk long held misconceptions about dinosaur behaviour, survival tactics and adaptation trends,” Mr Howarth said.

Tyrannosaurs will open to the general public from 23 November 2013 to 27 July 2014 at The Australian Museum. For more information and to buy tickets, please visit www.tyrannosaurs.com.au

Photo: The Australian Museum's newest blockbuster exhibition Tyrannosaurs opened this week with Minister George Souris joining (from left) Chinese Consul General Mr Li Huaxin, Beijing Museum of Natural History Director Dr Meng Qingjin, and Australian Museum Director Frank Howarth. Tyrannosaurs opens to the general public on Saturday 23 November. Photo by James Morgan.