At 12 metres long, 3.6 metres high and more than 66 million years old, Museums Victoria's latest visitor - Victoria the T. rex - is preparing to make history and wow the crowds in an exclusive new exhibition, backed by the Allan Labor Government.
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks today joined Museums Victoria CEO Lynley Crosswell and expert palaeontologists at Melbourne Museum for a sneak peak at one the world's largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossils in anticipation of the Australian-exclusive exhibition Victoria the T. rex.
Discovered in 2013 in South Dakota, USA, the massive T. rex fossil is made up of 199 bones, including a skull that weighs 139 kilograms. The aptly named fossil actually takes its name from the Dino Lab in Victoria, Canada where it was studied and restored.
This iconic fossil is the centrepiece of the upcoming exhibition - the first time a real T. rex fossil has been exhibited in Victoria.
The exhibition will feature interactive installations including augmented reality and multisensory installations - taking visitors on a journey back 66 million years to the Cretaceous period, revealing the T. rex's natural habitat and the latest discoveries about this famous and feared species.
More than two million people of all ages have visited Melbourne Museum to see the permanent exhibition Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs, featuringHorridus, the world's most complete Triceratops fossils. Victoria the T. rex is set to marvel visitors of all ages and delight families just in time for the school holidays.
For the duration of the T. rex exhibition, Melbourne Museum will be the only place in the world where visitors can see one of the finest examples of both a real T. rex fossil and a real Triceratops fossil under one roof.
Victoria the T. Rex opens Friday, 28 June. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the Melbourne Museum website museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum.
As stated by Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks
"We're thrilled to welcome this exceptional - and soon to be towering - T. rex fossil to Victoria in time for the school holidays, and there's no better place for it than Melbourne Museum."
"Visitors of all ages have already flocked to the Museum's Triceratops exhibition and now we're proud to back this 'roarsome' new drawcard opportunity to get up close to a real T. rex."
As stated by Member for Northern Metropolitan Region Sheena Watt
"The exhibition will complement Melbourne Museum's outstanding palaeontology offerings, including the popular Dinosaur Walk and the Gandel Gondwana Garden, further cementing Melbourne's reputation as a cultural capital."
As stated by Lynley Crosswell, CEO, Museums Victoria
"Victoria the T. rex is a monumental addition to our world-class exhibition lineup. As home to the largest palaeontological department in the country, including the most complete and finest Triceratops in the world, Museums Victoria presents extraordinary exhibits that inspire a deeper understanding of our planet's history."
