The first phase of Dinosaurs in Their Time—the premier dinosaur exhibit in the world to immerse visitors in the environments in which dinosaurs lived, surrounded by scientifically accurate re-creations of the Earth's Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods—opened to the public in November 2007. The June opening of the final phase will complete the three-year, $36 million project that renovated and expanded the museum's former Dinosaur Hall and now features the third largest collection of real mounted dinosaurs in the country.

"The dinosaurs at Carnegie Museum of Natural History have been some of Pittsburgh's most beloved icons for more than a century. It is thrilling to think that this project's completion presents us with a modern, updated exhibition ready for another century of educating and captivating dinosaur lovers of all ages," said Dr. Samuel Taylor, Director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

T. rex returns to the museum, but is not alone. In one of the most dramatic paleontological displays ever constructed, Carnegie Museum of Natural History's original T. rex is joined by a second T. rex, with the two frozen in a confrontation over the remains of an Edmontosaurus. This new display not only reflects the most current scientific thinking on Tyrannosaurus but also conveys its historical and cultural significance as one of the world's most popular and thrilling dinosaurs.

"Nowhere else in the world will you be able to see a display quite like this," said Dr. Matthew Lamanna, the museum's Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, principal dinosaur researcher, and lead scientific advisor for Dinosaurs in Their Time. "These two T. rex, each longer than a bus and weighing as much as an elephant, are posed as if about to do serious damage to each other. People will see T. rex as it really was: a gigantic, formidable carnivore that often didn't get along with others of its own kind. But when visitors see this display, we hope they will think about this singular animal and really use their imaginations. Was T. rex a scavenger, a hunter, or both? Which of them will win this fight and take the spoils? Will both survive the battle?"

The museum's Tyrannosaurus rex has been part of the collection since 1941when it was purchased from American Museum of Natural History for $7,000. This T. rex has the unique distinction of being the holotype, or name-bearing specimen, of its species. This means that the museum's skeleton is the original specimen by which the species is and forever will be defined. By definition, when other potential T. rex specimens are discovered, they must first be compared to the skeleton at Carnegie Museum of Natural History to ensure that they actually pertain to this species. In short, the museum's mounted skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex is the world's first specimen of the world's most famous dinosaur.

In addition to the two "battling" Tyrannosaurus skeletons, the exhibit also features important parts of other real T. rex specimens: the real lower jaw of a third adult T. rex specimen that has been tucked away in the museum's fossil collection for over a century and a cast of the snout of a very rare baby T. rex. The museum also exhibits in the entrance hallway near the Natural History store, a mounted cast skeleton of the teenage Tyrannosaurus "Jane." Add to these another cast adult skeleton of T. rex displayed at Pittsburgh International Airport, and the Steel City becomes one of the world's greatest destinations for fans of this iconic dinosaur. T. rex vs. T. rex is presented by Dollar Bank.

"Dollar Bank is a proud partner with Carnegie Museum of Natural History and we are thrilled to bring the world's most famous dinosaur back to Pittsburgh," said Robert P. Oeler, President and CEO of Dollar Bank. "This is exhibit will delight both adults and children and Dollar Bank is proud to be a part of it."

Much of Phase Two of Dinosaurs in Their Time will recreate the ancient ecosystem of the Hell Creek Formation, which existed about 68–66 million years ago in parts of what are now Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas.

The Hell Creek environment was one of the last dinosaur strongholds in North America, a bustling hub of ancient activity. Carnegie Museum of Natural History's recreation of this environment reveals ancient flowering plants, amphibians, turtles, lizards, crocodiles, mammals, and even the soaring pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus with its 36-foot wingspan. Notable Hell Creek dinosaurs from the museum's collection include the duckbilled herbivore Edmontosaurus, the three-horned Triceratops, the thick-skulled Pachycephalosaurus, the strange oviraptorosaur, and the king of the dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex. -- www.cmoa.org