A new exhibition called Hatching the Past – Dinosaur Eggs and Babies is set to open at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum on Friday 3 April. It provides a rare and exciting look at the life of dinosaurs through their eggs, nests, embryos and young, collected from across the world. Each major plant and meat-eating dinosaur group is represented in the travelling exhibition, which will be on display at Kelvingrove Museum until 16 August 2015.

Ahead of the long-awaited release of Jurassic World, the fourth Jurassic Park film on 12 June, Glasgow is the first city in the Britain to welcome this world class touring show. Since its launch in Melbourne Australia in 2008, it has been enjoyed by audiences in New Zealand, Mexico, America and Spain.

Hatching the Past – Dinosaur Eggs and Babies encourages visitors to discover more about dinosaur family life, including how they raised their young and learn how important the study of dinosaur eggs has been in understanding these captivating creatures. Dinosaur eggs were first identified in the 1920s, although it was many years before their significance was fully understood. Nowadays specialists appreciate the huge scientific value eggs offer in learning more about the behaviour, growth and evolution of dinosaurs.

The exhibition includes several real dinosaur objects on loan from The Hunterian, University of Glasgow including an egg and egg fragments from China and the Gobi Desert, a crocodile skull from the Middle Jurrasic perios, around 170 million years ago and a cast of dinosaur footprints together with a tooth and tailbone found on Skye.

The first of seven sections begins by looking at what is and what is not an egg. A number of other hands-on exhibits encourage visitors to touch a real dinosaur bone and reconstructed nests, dig for eggs, watch videos of well-known dinosaur experts and marvel at two large dinosaur casts of a Tarbosaurus and Probactrosaurus. All displays are brought to life with colourful paintings showing dinosaurs as parents with their eggs and young, together with life-like models of embryos and sculptures of babies ready to hatch.

Chair of Glasgow Life, Councillor Archie Graham, said: “We are thrilled to bring Hatching the Past to Kelvingrove, its first showing in the UK. This new exhibition promises to be a captivating experience for all ages, bringing together some of the world’s most renowned dinosaur hunters and their discoveries.

“The mix of models, video, images and plenty of hands on interactive displays provide an active and engaging exhibition for both children and adults. If you are looking for something to do this Easter we hope you will come and join us for an egg hunt with a difference.”

Dr Neil Clark, Scotland’s foremost authority on dinosaurs, who works at The Hunterian, added: “We are pleased to share some of our dinosaur fossils with the audience at Kelvingrove through the Hatching the Past exhibition. Scientists have only recently discovered the enormous importance of eggs in uncovering even more about the life of dinosaurs and their environment. Scotland has also provided us with many significant fossils that help us understand how dinosaurs interacted soon after hatching. So I think an exhibition like Hatching the Past which delves into the world of dinosaurs through their eggs and young is very exciting.

“Exploring dinosaurs opens up a myriad of learning opportunities for children and adults alike, helping us to better understand our changing world through their remains and our technology. With the summer holidays on the horizon I think a visit to Kelvingrove is a worthwhile outing for any family, it might just spark the imagination of our next greatest dinosaur hunter.”

Hatching the Past – Dinosaur Eggs and Babies is aimed at the large family audience who visit Kelvingrove, together with school groups. Around 28% of visitors to Kelvingrove are children aged under 16 years, so the exhibition is timed to coincide with the Easter and May bank holidays, end of term school trips and the school summer holidays. There will be a series of dinosaur themed family events and a separate schools learning and access programme to complement the exhibition. There will also be a varied retail offering available in the shop at Kelvingrove.