Dino delight: Napier aquarium exhibit brings dinosaur back to life

The National Aquarium of New Zealand in Napier looks a little more like Jurassic Park with its latest addition.

The aquarium is now home to an animatronic model of a Tyrannosaurus rex, affectionately named Rexie.

The interactive new addition is part of an upgrade to the Ancient Life exhibition area which is based around ancient life and the late Joan Wiffen, who resided in Hawke's Bay.

Rexie, an animatronic model of a Tyrannosaurus rex at the National Aquarium of New Zealand, is already proving a very popular addition to the Ancient Life exhibition. Video / Supplied

Wiffen discovered a number of marine fossils in the 1970s in the Mangahouanga Valley, about 160km northwest of Napier, including the toe bone of a small dinosaur.

Her discoveries showed that dinosaurs lived in New Zealand.

She went on to name two new species of mosasaur - a type of ancient marine reptile - and was celebrated in a documentary Lost Dinosaurs of New Zealand, and received an honorary doctorate from Massey University.

A spokesperson said the exhibit upgrade was to "ensure the content is exciting for our family visitors".

"Our education team have been reviewing and updating the signage in this area to enhance the visitor experience and challenge our visitors to find out exactly what a dinosaur is."

The Ancient Life exhibition recognises the work of the late Joan Wiffen, who discovered several fossils in Hawke's Bay. Photo / File

Rexie was purchased as the last model from an independent supplier in Auckland for the heavily discounted price of $2000.

"It was an opportunity too good to be missed as we were in the process of planning the refresh of our Ancient Life exhibit area."

While the exhibition is open, some signage is still in the process of being installed and is expected to be completed in early February.

Rexie had proven popular with visitors during the school holidays, the spokesperson said.

"She is proving extremely popular, and we're finding our visitors are spending a lot more time in this area of the aquarium – learning about ancient life, different types of fossils and of course, about Lady Joan Wiffen."