The Natural History Museum in London opened its new £1.2m Dino Jaws exhibit on 30 June.

The attraction focuses on what dinosaurs ate, using 10 animatronic creatures, fossil evidence, hands-on exhibits and scientific insights.

Dr Angela Milner, leading dinosaur researcher at the museum, said: “We all know that T. rex was a meat eater, but can you tell what Baryonx ate, and have you seen the sinister evidence of what Coelophysis had for dinner?

“Visitors will become dino-scientists and study jaws, claws, guts and even poo, to discover what dinosaurs ate, using the same techniques that scientists use.”

The robotic dinosaurs include herbivores such as Iguanodon and Euoplocephalus, as well as carnivores such as Velociraptors and the deadly Coelophysis, which, the museum said, visitors with young children may choose to avoid.

Some of the interactive elements include “a huge steaming, stinking mound representing several weeks’ worth of Euoplocephalus poo” and a virtual excavation.

The Dino Jaws exhibit will run until 29 June 2007. Details: www.nhm.ac.uk/dino-jaws

Photograph: The Coelophysis, which the museum warns may be too scary for young children