Events

Published on February 9th, 2014 | by Admin

Tyrannosaurus Meet The Family … a Review of epic proportions!

Tyrannosaurus Meet The Family … a Review of epic proportions! Admin
Score

Summary: Tyrannosaurus Meet The Family was one of the best exhibitions that I've experienced in a long-time due to the amount of exhibits, information and interactive displays.

5

Epic!


Tyrannosaurus Meet The Family
Event:
Dinosaur Exhibition
Where:
Australian National Museum Sydney
When: From 23rd of November 2013
Cost: Visit Website
Reviewer: Andrew Bistak
Review Date: Feb 2014

The Australian National Museum in Sydney is hosting one of our countries most unusual and interesting exhibitions which showcases the king of dinosaurs, the powerful and deadly Tyrannosaurus Rex. This interactive exhibition takes the person back through time in order to understand one of the worlds most popular dinosaurs that will be loved by people of all ages and best of all, there’s plenty to learn and see.

The biggest fact that I learned from the exhibition was that there was over different 20 species of Tyrannosaurus and that this was not the original scientific name. Initially it was called Manospondylus Gigas but due to a law passed in 2000, it allows names that have been valid for more than 50 years to be used at the expense of the original name. Hence, Tyrannosaurus Rex is here to stay!

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As you step into the exhibition, it is like walking through the gate of Jurassic Park as viewers are treated to a very interesting video presentation of dinosaurs walking through the streets of Sydney. These large video presentations are on three walls and shows the dinosaurs walking and running through the city such as Sydney Harbour.

Another highlight of the exhibition is the amount of interactive touch screens that allow viewers to get additional information on the skeletons such as its habitat or some great edutainment games such as one which requires the person to match up a skeleton. These screens also offer the person just the right amount of information without being inundated.

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The exhibition also explains the history of dinosaurs such as the Amniota, Dinosauria and Coelurosuria periods and where the Tyrannosaurus fitted into this picture. Interestingly, the Tyrannosaur family contained all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some smaller than bicycles and others larger than a double-decker bus. However the first largest skeleton that you encounter is the Albertosaurus Sarcophagus which is around 10 metres in length and lived over 74 million years ago. It’s quite a sight to see.

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Another interesting part of the exhibition is the trophy wall of dinosaur skulls  that explains the slight differences between species. Meet the Parents also touches upon modern dinosaur theories such as whether the Tyrannosaurus were good parents and although there is no evidence, both the females and males may have protected their young. Of course the highlight of the exhibition is seeing the giant Tyrannosaurus himself which is a full set of bones that makes it a very imposing sight. I could spend hours just looking at it in awe.

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At the end of the exhibition there is a fun augmented reality demonstration that features the dinosaurs rampaging through the Australian Museum. One part of this demonstration allows people to interact with the dinosaurs themselves via the huge projection screen. Ironically this virtual experience is powered the Microsoft Kinect. There is also a video booth that explains the creation of some of the exhibits plus a fun jumping game called Wipe Out which requires the person to jump on a platform. The harder they jump, the more powerful the asteroid is that decimated Earth millions upon millions of years ago.

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Final Thoughts?

Tyrannosaurus Meet The Family was one of the best exhibitions that I’ve experienced in a long-time due to the amount of exhibits, information and interactive displays. From life size Tyrannosaurus skeletal replicas, video screens, interactive presentations and my favourite, the shadow of a T-Rex performing shadow puppets, Tyrannosaurus Meet The Family is a once in a lifetime experience that I could happily recommend to people of all ages.

Highly Recommended and don’t forget to download the companion app before you go!

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For more information, please visit – http://australianmuseum.net.au/landing/tyrannosaurs/

editorschoice


About the Author

andrew@impulsegamer.com'



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