BE ADVISED: On Saturday 10/12, the Los Angeles Coliseum will host the USC vs. Penn State football game. Kickoff is at 12:30pm. This event will impact traffic, parking, and wayfinding in the area due to street closures. Please consider riding the Metro E (Expo) Line and exiting at USC/Expo station.

Dinosaur Encounters

Dinosaur Encounters is currently on hiatus.
We look forward to returning in the new year.
Check back here for the 2025 schedule.
Dakota and Hunter, the juvenile Triceratops and T. rex puppets!
Dinosaur Encounters is a live performance that features life-sized juvenile dinosaur puppets!

Date

Dinosaur Encounters is currently on hiatus.
We look forward to returning in the new year.
Check back here for the 2025 schedule.

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Location

Natural History Museum: North American Mammal Hall, Level 2
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Tickets

$6 per person. General Admission also required.
Free for Members. Reservation required.

Have a dinosaur encounter with our engaging and fun live performance featuring NHM's life-size dinosaur puppets. Our large-scale, realistic T. rex and Triceratops puppets capture the imaginations of audiences in performances each week. Each show explores a different theme. Thanks to the expertise of NHM's paleontologists and puppeteers, you can experience how these prehistoric animals lived. 

Stay tuned for more info on our all new Ocean Encounters show, which will open on November 17 in the NHM Commons theater!
 

Dakota and Sauropod

Marionette and full-suit dinosaur puppets!

Dakota meets a dragonfly

Dakota gets lost following a playful dragonfly.

Dakota as a Shadow Puppet

The show begins with a magic shadow puppetry performance that foreshadows the live-action drama.

Dakota on the rock

Dakota calling for her family

Dakota and Hunter on stage

Dakota and Hunter meet!

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Marionette and full-suit dinosaur puppets!

Dakota gets lost following a playful dragonfly.

The show begins with a magic shadow puppetry performance that foreshadows the live-action drama.

Dakota calling for her family

Dakota and Hunter meet!

Dinosaur Encounters is family friendly, and each presentation is around 15 minutes long. The show is general admission, standing room only. ADA Accommodations Available. Please inquire with an associate upon arrival.

Meet our Dinosaurs

"HUNTER" THE T. REX 
Hunter is a life-like full-body puppet based on the juvenile specimen in the T. rex growth series on view in the our Dinosaur Hall.

Covering Hunter are “proto-feathers.”  Dinosaurs and birds share a common ancestor, and it has been hypothesized that a juvenile T. rex may have had downy feathers to keep warm. As an apex predator, Hunter is always on the lookout for a good meal.

"DAKOTA" THE TRICERATOPS
Dakota is a realistic large-scale puppet of a juvenile Triceratops specimen.  She is named after the great state of South Dakota where Triceratops is the state fossil.  

Please note these are not small hand puppets. The Museum's puppets are very large, realistic interpretations of wild animals. Please prepare small children accordingly.

Dinosaur Encounters Sensory-Friendly Show

Our sensory-friendly Dinosaur Encounters performance provides a warm welcome to guests who need a little less stimulating environment and the opportunity to move around during the show.

Dinosaur Encounters is sponsored by Superior Grocers.

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Dinosaur Encounters is also made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.