Texas Science & Natural History Museum to Debut New Paleontology Exhibit, “Epic Encounters”

AUSTIN, Texas —More than two years after its 2023 reopening, Texas Science & Natural History Museum at The University of Texas at Austin will unveil its new paleontology exhibit, Epic Encounters, on January 25, 2026.

The updated gallery offers visitors a vivid snapshot of how Texas has transformed over time, tracing the state’s dynamic prehistoric past through fossil displays, immersive design and interactive experiences. Highlights include large-scale digital animations that bring extinct animals to life, and a new choose-your-own-adventure game that places visitors in the middle of ancient Texas ecosystems. Other improvements include enhanced lighting, new signage and increased accessibility.

Since its opening in 1939, the museum has been a home for significant discoveries in Texas paleontology. While its paleontology gallery has undergone periodic updates over the decades, this new installation introduces interpretive elements to engage visitors, including animated depictions of animals in their natural habitats. The reimagined gallery builds on the momentum of the Discovery Center, a hands-on paleontology exhibit that opened adjacent to the gallery last March.

“The museum’s paleontology exhibits are tremendously important, representing only a fraction of the university’s extensive holdings housed in the vertebrate paleontology collections within the Jackson School of Geosciences,” said Dr. Pamela R. Owen, associate director of the museum. “Many of the skeletons on display were recovered during the Statewide Paleontological and Mineralogical Survey conducted by the Work Projects Administration between 1939 and 1941. What visitors see at the museum are some of the most outstanding fossils—remarkable for their completeness and for the insight they provide into ancient life in Texas.”

The new exhibit was designed in collaboration with Austin-based firm MuseWork LLC. MuseWork’s creative director, Angela Davis, worked with Dr. Owen and her team to create an exhibit that balances scientific rigor with visitor engagement. MuseWork also helped design the new Discovery Center and the museum’s Texas Transformation and Texas Titans exhibits, which debuted at the museum’s reopening.

Visitor engagement and science education are central goals for Epic Encounters. New interpretive panels highlight standout fossilized skeletons discovered in Austin, such as the Onion Creek Mosasaur and the Shoal Creek Plesiosaur. The redesigned exhibit cases improve sightlines throughout the gallery, while enhanced lighting evokes ancient environments contributing to a more immersive atmosphere.

New digital installations and interactive technology further enhance the experience. Two large wall-mounted monitors feature short, realistic animations of eight Featured Creatures, bringing the fossils on display to life. With the press of a button, visitors can view artists’ representations of how these extinct animals may have looked, moved and behaved millions of years ago — placing the fossil evidence in a vivid environmental context through sight and sound.

A new choose-your-own-adventure game, Texas Long, Long Ago, invites visitors to step into the Cretaceous Period and experience a day in the life of ancient Texas wildlife. Visitors choose from animals such as Agujaceratops or Mosasaurus, then navigate the animals’ worlds through a series of on-screen decisions, such as finding food, choosing a mate and defending territory.

“The game enables visitors to really dig into the mindset of these animals, rather than just seeing them in a documentary on television,” said Dr. Liam Norris, the museum’s exhibition and outreach associate. “It helps visitors understand the kinds of decisions animals would have needed to make to survive.”

Epic Encounters opens to the public on Sunday, January 25 at 1:00 p.m., on the museum’s Free Fourth Sunday.

For media inquiries, please email TMMComms@austin.utexas.edu.