MARTINSVILLE, Va. (WFXR) – The Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH) is inviting you on a prehistoric adventure to a land before the age of man. The Age of Dinosaurs exhibit is returning to Martinsville.
The Age of Dinosaurs exhibit will transport visitors to a land before time with incredible fossils, cast skeletons and skulls, and live-action animatronics from February 15, 2025, through July 26, 2026.
Museum Experiences Manager Bethany Fisher installs scenery inside the exhibit gallery near the Herrerasaurus animatronic display.
The exhibit features displays created by museum staff and researchers highlighting the diverse dinosaur species that ruled the earth 252 to 66 million years ago during the Mesozoic Era.
Highlights of the exhibit include:
- Never before exhibited dinosaur fossils, such as:
- Extremely rare, fossilized sauropod (long-necked dinosaur) skin
- Long-necked dinosaur backbones and raptor teeth
- The only known fossil evidence that Triceratops engaged in battle with Tyrannosaurus rex and survived the encounter
- Life-size cast skeleton of Triceratops
- Life-size cast skull of Tyrannosaurus rex
- Fossilized theropod (three-toed dinosaur) tracks
- Dinosaur fossil field jackets
- Animatronic Herrerasaurus and Dilophosaurus displays
- An immersive dinosaur fossil dig pit, featuring a pop-up field tent and backlit scenic background depicting a fossil dig site worked by museum researchers in Wyoming
- Dinosaur egg photo-op
- Various other fossils and casts
The Virginia Museum of Natural History’s paleontology holdings consist of a wide variety of dinosaur material, ranging from spectacular fossils that museum researchers have unearthed in Wyoming over many years, to life-size cast skeletons of some of the most iconic dinosaurs to have ever lived. This exhibit provides the museum with the opportunity to showcase some of its most important dinosaur specimens, while also highlighting the museum’s paleontology fieldwork through an original exhibit experience designed to engage audiences of all ages.
For more information, visit the Virginia Museum of Natural History website.