The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History is a

natural history museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The museum recently moved to a new location at 1105 North University Avenue, in the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Biological Sciences Building. It opened in April 2019. A unit of the university's

College of Literature, Science, and the Arts The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) is the liberal arts and sciences school of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Established in 1841 with seven students and two teachers, the college is currentl ...

, the current building is located on the university's Central Campus and has 22,000 square feet of exhibit space in a building that it shares with three research museums (

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and ...

Paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

).Museum Facts
University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. The University Herbarium is administered through the same organization. The natural history collections began in 1837, and for many years the museum was based in the Alexander Ruthven Museums Building, dating to 1928. The public exhibit museum was founded in 1956, and today has more than 100,000 visitors annually. The museum is a 501(c)(3)

tax-exempt Tax exemption is the reduction or removal of a liability to make a compulsory payment that would otherwise be imposed by a ruling power upon persons, property, income, or transactions. Tax-exempt status may provide complete relief from taxes, redu ...

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. It employs 11 full-time staff and between 40-50 paid student docents, and has an annual budget of more than $900,000.

Exhibits

The museum has four major permanent exhibits: * The Hall of Evolution on the second floor displays exhibits on

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

and prehistoric life, including

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s, models, and dioramas of

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s, ancient

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

s, and other

organism In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and ...

s. It is the largest collection on prehistoric life in Michigan. * The Michigan Wildlife Gallery on the third floor displays exhibits on

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

s, mammals, reptiles, amphibians,

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s, and

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

native to the Great Lakes. There are

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proc ...

specimens, exhibits on habitats, and displays about regional environmental problems. A mastodon trackway, the largest on display in the world, is part of this exhibit. * The Anthropology Displays feature exhibits on

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

, and include artifacts from

human culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylo ...

s around the world. * The Geology Displays on the fourth floor feature a collection of the several rocks and minerals. Two galleries display exhibits on "Evolution & Health" and archaeological research work in the U-M Museum of Archaeological Anthropology. The first floor Rotunda Lobby currently displays "The Invisible World of Mites."

Gallery

File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9066.JPG, Lobby rotunda File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9036.JPG, The Michigan Wildlife Gallery File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9028.JPG, The Michigan Wildlife Gallery File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9052.JPG, The Michigan Wildlife Gallery File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9062.JPG, The Michigan Wildlife Gallery: Opossums File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9070.JPG, The Hall of Evolution:

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...

Period File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9069.JPG, The Hall of Evolution:

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...

Period File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9068.JPG, The Hall of Evolution:

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

Period File:Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9080.JPG, The Hall of Evolution: Oligocene Epoch File:Archaeopteryx lithographica Exhibit Museum of Natural History.JPG, ''Replica of an Archaeopteryx'' fossil

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Anthropology museums in the United States Dinosaur museums in the United States Geology museums in the United States Historic district contributing properties in Michigan Museums in Ann Arbor, Michigan Museums on the National Register of Historic Places Natural history museums in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Washtenaw County, Michigan University museums in Michigan University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado University of Michigan University of Michigan campus Science museums in Michigan Planetaria in the United States