Watch the preparation of the Dueling Dinosaurs fossil!
Use our cameras to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Dueling Dinosaurs fossil as it is being prepared for research. When the SECU DinoLab is closed, the live feed will be offline, and you can view a short timelapse video of our progress.
Paleo Events
Enjoy paleontology-themed special events and educational experiences for all ages.
Dino Dig Live!
Alternate Fridays & Saturdays this summer
Starting Friday, June 14, 2024 | noon–12:30pm
SECU Daily Planet, NRC 1st Floor | Virtual: YouTube
Every summer the NCMNS paleontology crew goes into the field to search for new fossil specimens and continue digging up previous discoveries. Join us in the SECU Daily Planet Theater in person, or online, for a live video call from a dinosaur quarry! Paleontologists from NCMNS will be live from Utah and Montana searching rocks dating back to the Cretaceous.
Our live calls (every week this summer!) will give you the chance to join the expedition. You can ask questions and interact with paleontologists in the field.
Research Updates
Read the latest updates from the NCMNS Paleontology team.
Off with its head!
Our tyrannosaur’s skull once housed and protected essential soft tissues such as the brain, the inner ear and sinuses. A medical technology known as microCT (X-ray computed tomography) allows us to see detailed, 3D scans of the inside of the skull without damaging it. By reconstructing the shapes of long-lost soft tissues, our paleontology team hopes to gain new insights into the anatomy, senses and development of this ancient predator.
It’s what’s inside that counts
One of the questions our researchers are pursuing is the age of our dinosaurs when they died. Our tyrannosaur is small; is this because it was young, or because it was an adult of a smaller species? Luckily, the limb bones of dinosaurs preserve a record of the animals’ growth, in lines analogous to tree rings. Periods when the dinosaurs grew little, or not at all, are called Cyclical Growth Markers (CGMs), and we can count these to estimate the age of the beasts at death. To view these CGMs, a thin section of our tyrannosaur’s exposed femur had to be cut from the bone.
Supporters
The Dueling Dinosaurs exhibit is made possible by generous donations to the Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences from the following organizations.
Jandy Ammons Foundation
Anonymous
Edward M. Armfield Sr. Foundation, Inc.
Robert & Carol Bilbro
Carlyle Adams Foundation
Josephus Daniels Charitable Fund of the Triangle Community Foundation
Delta Dental of North Carolina
Anne Faircloth & Fred Beaujeu-Dufour
HH Architecture
Hillsdale Fund, Inc.
Institute of Museum and Library Sciences
Betsy Anne Bradshaw Lumsden
Maynard Family Foundation
Julia McMillan & Jed Dietz
Mary McMillan
Robert M. McMillan Jr.
Jane & William K. Morgan
Andrea Nixon & Brent Friedenberg
Our State Magazine
PBS North Carolina
PNC Foundation
Frances & Steve Porter Family Fund of the Winston-Salem Foundation
The Re Corr Family Foundation
Mary Margaret & Kade Ross
Kay Shipman Schoellhorn
Stephanie & Dana Simpson
Temple Sloan Family Foundation
Ann & Wade Smith
Susan & Chris Valauri
Anita Watkins
Wells Fargo Foundation
WRAL
WUNC, North Carolina Public Radio