Visitors will have a chance to take an in-depth look at dinosaur eggs, nests and embryos in "Hatching the Past: The Great Dinosaur Egg Hunt," opening Oct. 11 at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman.

This exhibition offers an array of authentic dinosaur eggs and nests collected from all over the globe and includes eggs of each of the major plant- and meat-eating dinosaur groups. The exhibit will be on view through Jan. 19, 2009.

"Hatching the Past" invites visitors to touch real dinosaur bones and reconstructed nests -- one more than eight feet in diameter, dig for eggs, experience hands-on exploration stations and view animated video presentations featuring well-known dinosaur experts.

Each section is enhanced with life-like models of embryos and hatchlings, colorful illustrations of dinosaur family life and photographs of dinosaur hunters and their discoveries.

The collection of real fossils on view includes a bowling ball-sized egg laid by a long-necked plant-eating titanosaur that lived in Argentina 75 million years ago; a large cluster of eggs laid by a duck-billed dinosaur; and the longest dinosaur eggs ever discovered, laid by a new giant species of oviraptor, a carnivorous, ostrich-like dinosaur.

A central feature of the exhibit is a presentation about the discovery of "Baby Louie," -- the nearly complete skeleton of a dinosaur embryo. Charlie Magovern made the discovery in 1993 when he was cleaning a large block of eggs from China. He nicknamed the embryo after National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos.

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is on the University of Oklahoma campus. The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. A family of four can visit for under $20.

Additional information about this and other events and programs at the museum is available online at www. snomnh.ou.edu, or by calling 325-4712.