KEY POINTS:
Every two years, Auckland Museum receives about 80 to 100 bones from people who think they have found something spectacular.
However, dinosaur bones aren't very common in New Zealand, and out of all of the bones brought in, one will be a moa bone and the rest will all be from farm animals - mostly cows.
Because of these mistakes in bone identity, Auckland Museum keeps a cow skeleton in its basement to match other cow bones to.
Although the skeleton of a cow may not be something the museum would usually exhibit, the story behind it makes it worthy of being dusted out and put on display - and it is this idea that the new Secrets Revealed exhibition at the Auckland Museum is based on.
"The heart of this exhibition is really about story telling," said museum director Vanda Vitali. "Not just show-casing this unique collection, but sharing the stories and tales that go with each object."
The collection, which will be on display until January, features some of the four million items kept in storage, many of which have never been seen by the public.
With only 2 per cent of the museum's total collection on display at any one time, Dr Vitali said the exhibition is also an opportunity to "reveal to Auckland some of the many exceptional items the museum has currently in storage".
Entries were picked by museum staff, who were asked to submit their own stories of their favourite objects. Former TVNZ news chief Bill Ralston and actor Michael Hurst then selected which staff picks would be featured in the exhibition, including the skins of three birds shot for or by Teddy Roosevelt, and a bald kiwi.
The collection is characterised by shelves, crates and boxes simulating a storage environment and creating a "visual feast" for visitors by its use of lighting, props and numerous peepholes.
The exhibition also shows the public "the sort of work we [Auckland Museum] do with our collections, how we handle the collections, and the processes we [use] in treating those collections", Dr Vitali said.
The conservation section, for example, shows a preserved, frozen baby orang-utan, and the storage section mimics to a certain extent the storage basement at the museum.
Stories about the objects on display are told not only visually but orally by the curator who picked the particular piece or pieces.
Entomology curator John Early said he was impressed with his "visually spectacular" display of more than 13000 beatles and other insects.
Margaret Stapleton, who took four children to the exhibition, said it was unique.
"We've never seen an exhibition like this before," she said.
"The kids have had a ball, especially with the peepholes. It's a great idea for the school holidays."
