New exhibit brings dinosaurs to Atlantic Station

Located right across the hall from the long-running “Bodies … The Exhibition,” “Extreme Dinosaurs” has a wealth of information, some of which flies in the face of earlier dinosaur knowledge.

It also has speculation, interesting items for kids to handle, loud noises, sharp spotlights and occasional sensory overload. Children will enjoy it.

Just inside the entrance is Confuciusornis. This birdish dinosaur is covered in feathers and bathed in pink light. It perches in a mock tree with its wings outspread. As you enter the exhibit, it shrieks. It’s a replica of one of the 30 or so dinosaurs discovered in China that appear to have had feathers.

The real Confuciusornis — known as a micro raptor — was only a foot high, about the size of a crow, explained Nancy Brenner, managing director of “Extreme Dinosaurs.” Atlanta is the exhibit’s first stop in the United States.

In this exhibit, Confuciusornis is the only dinosaur presented larger than life, she said.

Others, such as a life-size Tyrannosaurus rex, are mammoth enough to tower over visitors.

The exhibit focuses on unusual or startling traits in dinosaurs.

For example, a young T. rex is covered in downy feathers resembling hair. Scientists were surprised to discover this characteristic of the juveniles. They speculate it was to keep the young warm.

The big Parasaurolophus has a strange head crest that looks like a bony ponytail stretching out behind its head. Air flows through the hollow bone, making a trumpeting sound. You can hear how it sounded — the animatronic dinosaurs in the exhibit make lots of noise. In fact, it’s a barnyard in there, with bellows, shrieks, grunts and heavy breathing.

Visitors can make the creatures move. Push a button to raise an eyelid. Push another to make a mouth open or a tail switch back and forth.

Throughout the exhibit, this question is asked: Why did a trait develop? Visitors can play with a touch screen that shows pictures of various dinosaurs. They can try to figure out whether an odd characteristic functioned to keep the animal safe or to attract a mate.

The production values of the exhibit are not strong. The huge dinosaurs look like enormous versions of small rubbery toys. The trees and ferns are clearly plastic. The lighting is sometimes a hindrance. On occasion, your own shadow will prevent you from reading the text of an exhibit.

On the other hand, these big babies move and bellow.

Children also can touch objects set at child level. They can feel a rough surface that simulates dino hide. They can take brushes and work away to uncover pretend fossils lying under dirt (actually small rubber particles).

“I’m all for anything that increases scientific awareness and education in our society,” said Emory University professor Anthony Martin. He is not associated with the exhibit but is among paleontologists who have made relatively recent discoveries. Along with two colleagues, he published a paper in 2007 showing that, based on a Montana fossil, some dinosaurs lived in burrows.

His newly published book, “Dinosaurs Without Bones: Dinosaur Lives Revealed by Trace Fossils,” is about what can be learned from fossil tooth marks, nests, burrows and feces.

The “Extreme Dinosaurs” exhibit debuted at Telus World of Science in Vancouver in 2012.

A gift shop at the end has the usual assortment of stuffed animals, T-shirts and plastic cups. Adults can find a copy of the book “How to Build a Dinosaur” by Jack Horner and James Gorman. Those who have not yet made their peace with evolution could pick up a copy of “Why Evolution Is True,” a New York Times best-seller by Jerry Coyne.

For $5, you also can buy a little clear plastic box of pebbles labeled coprolite. It looks like small shiny rocks, but any child who’s gone through the exhibit will let you know it’s dinosaur dung that you can carry away in your pocket.