Meet the Finest Real T. rex ever seen in Australia
Victoria the T. rex opens on 28 June at Melbourne Museum
One of the world’s largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossils is the prehistoric star of an internationally touring exhibition that opens this Friday 28 June at Melbourne Museum.
Victoria the T. rex features the biggest and best example of a real T. rex fossil to ever be shown in Australia, and the first ever in Victoria. Open until 20 October in an Australian exclusive, the much-anticipated exhibition transports visitors back in time 66 million years ago, to the age of the Cretaceous when dinosaurs roamed Earth.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is Victoria’s striking and pristinely preserved skeleton. Impressive in size and completion, the fossil is composed of 199 bones, towers over us at 3.6 metres tall and spans more than 12 metres in length. Victoria’s real, immense skull – weighing in at a massive 139kg – is too heavy to be mounted on the body of the skeleton and will be displayed separately so that visitors can come face-to-face with one of the most fearsome animals of all time.
Through state-of-the-art technologies including augmented reality, 3D projection mapping and interactive elements, Victoria the T. rex grants visitors a rare and captivating glimpse into the world of Tyrannosaurus rex. Learn how the species may have experienced smell and sight through multisensory installations, and don’t just listen to what a T. rex may have sounded like – feel it in your bones!
Victoria’s momentous arrival makes Melbourne Museum the only place on Earth where visitors can get up close to not one, but two of the finest examples of real giants from the Cretaceous. Visitors to the exhibition will also gain access to one of the world’s most complete Triceratops fossils, Horridus, who calls Melbourne Museum home and is on permanent display in the award-winning, dynamic Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs.
At IMAX, Horridus stars in an exclusive new documentary, T.REX 3D, that features Melbourne Museum’s beloved Triceratops specimen and Museums Victoria Research Institute palaeontologist Dr Erich Fitzgerald. Propelling Museums Victoria onto 120 IMAX screens globally and narrated by Sam Neill, the documentary sets up a climactic battle between Triceratops and the tyrant lizard king in epic IMAX 3D.
On Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June dino-lovers are invited to celebrate Victoria’s arrival to Melbourne Museum with the Opening Weekend Dinosaur Party presented as part of Playbound, the vibrant new children’s festival taking over the City of Melbourne these school holidays. The dino-mite events program includes a dino disco, T. rex mask making, a scavenger hunt, fossil pop-ups and T. rex talks for kids.
Those hungry for more can head to Dino Bites – an American-inspired pop-up diner at Melbourne Museum. Visitors can sink their teeth into juicy burgers, fresh salads, creamy soft serves and tasty ‘Happy Bites’ kids’ lunch boxes. The diner also features a 2.5-metre T. rex skull, perfect for photo mementos of your visit.
Don’t miss the world’s finest touring T. rex fossil at Melbourne Museum, Australia’s home of dinosaurs, where visitors of all ages are invited to enjoy the ever-expanding prehistoric offering including Dinosaur Walk, Gandel Gondwana Garden, and Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs.
For further information visit the Melbourne Museum website.
Quote attributable to Museums Victoria CEO and director Lynley Crosswell:
‘Victoria the T. rex is a monumental addition to our world-class exhibition lineup. Melbourne Museum is the home of dinosaurs in Australia, and currently the only place on Earth where visitors can see two of the finest examples of a real T. rex and a real Triceratops under one roof.’
Quote attributable to Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks:
'We’re thrilled to welcome this exceptional 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 Melbourne Museum’s Triceratops exhibition and now the Victorian Government is proud to back this ‘roarsome’ new drawcard opportunity to get up close to a real T. rex.’
Quote attributable to Museums Victoria Research Institute collection manager of vertebrate palaeontology Tim Ziegler:
‘Fossils invite us back in time, to visit immeasurable past worlds now buried beneath our feet. The world-class exhibitions now showing at Melbourne Museum, Victoria the T. rex and Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs, resurrect a thriving Cretaceous landscape, and inspire awe for these mighty dinosaurs that once shook the Earth.’
Quote attributable to Museums Victoria Research Institute senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology Dr Thomas Rich:
‘Not only can visitors to Melbourne Museum see one of the world’s finest examples of a T. rex; they can also see a related and extremely rare fossil cared for in the State Collection: Timimus hermani, one of the state of Victoria’s most unique dinosaurs and possibly a great-great-great grandfather of T. rex. This 105-million-year-old fossil is an example of the only undoubted tyrannosauroid from the Southern Hemisphere and is on public display in the exhibition 600 Million Years.’
Victoria the T. rex
Open: 28 June – 20 October 2024
Location: Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson Street Carlton
Tickets: Tickets on sale now at Melbourne Museum and online
Members: $14 | Adults: $32.50 | Children: $18 | Concession: $22.50 | Children under 3: Free
Tickets include general admission to Melbourne Museum featuring Triceratops: Fate of the Dinosaurs.
Victoria the T. rex Opening Weekend Dinosaur Party
As part of the Playbound program at Melbourne Museum, celebrate the opening of Victoria the T. rex with a dino party for families that includes a dino disco, T. rex mask making, scavenger hunt and dinosaur talks for kids.
