Dinosaurs in Their Time

It's been more than five years in the making (or 200 million years if you look at it from the dinosaur's point of view), but the highly anticipated new dinosaur exhibit at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Natural History will finally open to the public later this month. In this new group of exhibits, called Dinosaurs in Their Time, the museum has utilized its vast collection of dinosaur fossils, as well as fossils of mammals, invertebrates, fish and plants from the Age of Dinosaurs to exhibit dinosaurs in their natural ecosystem and time period.

Dinosaurs in Their Time is more than three times larger than the former Dinosaur Hall, built by Andrew Carnegie in 1907 to house "Dippy" (Diplodocus Carnegii), named after Carnegie who financed the expedition that discovered the new species of dinosaur. Total dinosaur exhibit space has increased from 5,000 to 18,600 square feet, and will open in two phases. Phase One, representing the bulk of the project, will open on November 21 -- the day before Thanksgiving. It features the Triassic and Jurassic periods and the Cretaceous Seaway. Phase Two, featuring the dramatic fighting T.rex display, will open in Spring 2008. The completed exhibit will include 19 mounted dinosaurs and more than 230 other fossil specimens.

The Carnegie Museum is expecting a 40 percent increase in visitors for the first year after this new dinosaur exhibit opens. To maximize safety for both visitors and the dinosaur collection, they have chosen to regulate entry to the Dinosaurs in Their Time exhibit to groups of no more than 125 to 150 people every 15 minutes. Timed tickets will be sold to thus regulate entry into the exhibit. If you plan to visit during the busy holiday time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you might want to think about reserving those tickets now! You can do so online at www.carnegieonline.org/cmnh. There is no additional charge for the dinosaur tickets beyond the regular admission fee (which does increase by $5 per person beginning 11/21/07). Museum members can reserve their dinosaur tickets online for free.