'Dueling Dinosaurs:' One-of-a-kind dig at Raleigh science museum

The "Dueling Dinosaurs" exhibit is now open at Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will feature the first open access paleontology lab in the world.

The exhibit will feature what's believed to be the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered, a juvenile found buried in the same spot with a Triceratops in Hells Creek, Montana. The name comes from paleontologists' theory that the two dinosaurs fought to the death on that site.

"You have a predator and a prey that were buried together entwined in one grave in one moment of time," said Dr. Lindsay Zanno, the head of paleontology at the museum.

That battle likely took place an estimated 67 million years ago. The dinosaurs were found about 10 years ago.

"These animals - the preservation is exquisite. When they died and were buried, they were carcasses so they had all their flesh on their bodies, all their organs and skin and muscles, so every bone in the skeleton is preserved just as it would have been when the animal was alive," Zanno said.

Over the next four to five years, scientists will painstakingly unveil the fossils, looking for clues about how they lived and died.

"We have to be extremely careful as we remove the sediment around them not to destroy any of the incredible evidence," Zanno said.

"Each one of these dinosaurs is enormous. They’re over 20 feet long apiece."

Once the lab opens, visitors to the Museum of Natural Sciences will be able to explore hands-on exhibits that let them get an inside look at a reptile skull and uncover virtual fossils.

Zanno hopes the one-of-a-kind exhibit will open children's eyes to a whole new world.

"We want to capture kids’ imagination at an age where they usually lose interest in science," Zanno said.

The new lab allows plenty of space to make that happen.

"Dueling Dinosaurs" opens to the public on Saturday, April 27. Admission to the museum and the exhibit are free, but the museum is issuing timed access tickets so it doesn't get too crowded inside the lab.