Dinosaur exhibition plans are being hatched at a museum near you.
"Dinosaur Eggs and Babies", a travelling exhibition initially created in the United States, opens at the Otago Museum next month.
The show, which runs from December 12 until next May, features scientifically credible cast specimens of a baby dinosaur, as well as casts of more than 60 dinosaur eggs, nests, skeletons and embryos; and two real dinosaur bones.
Among the other attractions at the paid-entry exhibition are several scientifically inspired art works, a lot of interpretive information and several film clips.
Several dinosaur-related hands-on activities, including a dinosaur den, are also included in the show, which previously toured Australia.
The exhibition, in the special exhibitions gallery, is expected to appeal to children, families and a wide range of other visitors.
Clare Wilson, the museum director, exhibitions, development and planning, said dinosaurs had long captured people's imaginations, and continued to do so, as could be seen by the recent discovery of dinosaur prints near Nelson.
"This exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to feed that fascination, with plenty of exciting interactive exhibits to educate and enlighten," she said.
Dinosaur shows have been among the Otago Museum's most popular.
At least 20,000 people are expected to visit the latest exhibition.
"Chinese Dinosaurs", an exhibition in 2003 of fossilised dinosaurs from China, still holds the record for the largest number of visitors attending a paid exhibition at the museum - more than 50,000.
A further 33,000 people attended the museum's previously most popular touring show, a Japanese "Robot Dinosaurs" display, in 1993.
