# Prehistoric Megafauna exhibits in museums on the east coast?(US) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 4, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249 "2010-03-04T06:09:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/1 "2010-03-04T06:09:52Z")
We went to see the Harry Potter exibit at the Boston Museum of Science a couple of weeks ago (fans of the movies should see it if it comes to a museum near you) and wrapped up the day at the dinosaur exhibits, which isn’t nearly as big as it was when I was a kid. I know there are museums in DC and NY with better dinosaur exhibits, but do any of the museums on the east coast have prehistoric megafauna exhibits? I find the idea of giant extinct mammals and birds interesting, but I’ve never seen an exhibit that goes much beyond wooly mammoths and sibertooth tigers, and considering how many lived from the Eocene to the Pleistocene there’s a lot more to prehistoric megafauna than that! Failing that, how about a rec for a good illustrated book on the subject? ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/2 "2010-03-04T11:47:24Z")
No idea about museums, but [this pop-up book](http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Prehistorica-Mega-Beasts-Pop-Up-Robert/dp/0763622303/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267703013&sr=8-4) is wonderful! Every page has a big pop-up, together with several flaps which hide more, all with interesting facts about the creatures… There are also similar books in the series for dinosaurs and ancient sea-creatures… ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/3 "2010-03-04T13:16:13Z")
There’s a museum in Raleigh NC that has an impressive sloth skeleton. Something like 14 feet tall and ferocious looking as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/4 "2010-03-04T13:31:12Z")
Good question. Of course, I’ve always loved the dinos. But the big mammals are even more interesting in some ways. New York City’s Museum of Natural History has a [Lila Acheson Wallace Wing of Mammals](http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/fossilhalls/virtualtours/). (Down the page, under the dinos.) I checked the Smithsonian’s Natural History site. Fossil Mammals are mentioned in the Hall of Paleobiology, but there are no pictures. Let’s hope more people check in. Of course, true megafauna fans save up for trips west–to see the museum at the [La Brea Tar Pits](http://www.tarpits.org/). ---
**Author:** ![Doody\_Pants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@Doody\_Pants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doody_Pants)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/5 "2010-03-04T14:27:01Z")
I haven’t been to the NYC Museum of Natural History in probably 10 years but I used to go regularly when I was a kid/teen. They had a giant sloth that I really liked. They also had one of those giant armadillo-type guys (glyptodon!) who looked as big as a VW beetle to me when I was little. I also remember a display they had where they compared skeletons of modern day horses and giraffes to extinct animals, and one of them was the skull of a Baluchitherium. They didn’t have the whole skeleton, only an outine of the body, but it dwarfed all the others. Must have been impressive in life. (I think I will have to plan a trip with the kids to NY soon! I didn’t realize how much I missed it!) ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/6 "2010-03-04T14:35:27Z")
The Peabody Museum in New Haven has a fine Dinosaur Hall and a nice [Hall of Mammalian Evolution](http://www.peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/mammalhall.html), with a huge mural of megafauna from the 1960s by the great Rudolph Zallinger. But the AMNH in NY is the king, with two or three large rooms and dozens of skeletons, including my Dad’s favorite when he was a kid, the Irish Elk. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/7 "2010-03-04T14:38:49Z")
As mentioned, the American Museum of Natural History has two halls on fossil mammals (Primitive Mammals and Advanced Mammals), which contain possibly the most extensive display of megafaunal species anywhere. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History also contains two halls of fossil mammals with many megafaunal species on display, including a hall on the Tertiary (Paleocene-Pliocene) and one on the Ice Age (Pleistocene). There are mounted skeletons of [Giant Ground Sloths](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Eremotherium.jpg) among others. Nearer the OP, Yale University’s [Peabody Museum of Natural History](http://www.peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/mammalhall.html) includes a hall of fossil mammals, which features Rudolph Zallinger’s spectacular [Age of Mammals](http://www.peabodystore.com/images/posters/mammalposter.jpg) murals. The Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville also has an excellent range of mammal fossils on display in the [Hall of Florida Fossils](http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fossilhall/design/panorama.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/8 "2010-03-04T15:37:09Z")
The last time I sent to the Smithosian Museum of Natural History (2005, maybe), I think they still had placques denoting the etymology of “Eskimo” as meaning “eater of raw meat.” Their [Hallucigenia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucigenia) drawings also still showed it walking on stilts (upside down, that is). OK, two little nitpicks But what was really cool, as noted, was their pretty good display of non-reptilian megafauna. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/9 "2010-03-04T16:18:21Z")
Wrong coast, but the La Brea tar pits museum in Los Angeles has a spectacular collection of ground sloths and dire wolves. Very nice museum; make some time for it if you ever get to the West Coast. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/10 "2010-03-04T16:23:04Z")
The American Museum of Natural History in New York does indeed have an impressive collection of Megafauna, although it was extremelt re-arranged several years ago when they completely redid the fourth floor. Harvard’s Natural History Museum here in the Boston area has a pretty big Megafauna Mammal exhibit. They also have quite a few dinosaurs, if you’re not satisfied by the offerings at the Museum of Science. For more dinos (I don’t know about mammals) go to the Natural History museum at Yale. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/11 "2010-03-04T16:49:43Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > The Peabody Museum in New Haven has a fine Dinosaur Hall and a nice [Hall of Mammalian Evolution](http://www.peabody.yale.edu/exhibits/mammalhall.html), with a huge mural of megafauna from the 1960s by the great Rudolph Zallinger. But the AMNH in NY is the king, with two or three large rooms and dozens of skeletons, including my Dad’s favorite when he was a kid, the Irish Elk. Just, to add to to this reply. The Peabody has a great collection. It’s largely because [this guy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Othniel_Charles_Marsh), one of the first great paleontologists, was a professor at Yale. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/12 "2010-03-04T20:49:19Z")
The Smithsonian does a good job with mammals. Actually, we have a nice display here at the South Carolina State Museum, but I guess you Boston types don’t think about the _whole_ east coast when you use that term. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/13 "2010-03-04T21:20:16Z")
OMG, the Sloths! At the Smithsonian. They were the stuff of my nightmares for about a decade. The utterly horrendous, huge sloth with the gargantuan razor claws. I have no idea what else was in that exhibit, but I do know it took me a while to get out, so there must have been a lot. [Shudder](http://www.150.si.edu/images/3sloth.jpg) [Have a look around](http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/htmlVersion/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/14 "2010-03-04T21:26:22Z")
The South Carolina State Museum also has that cool 43-foot long replica of a giant white shark. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/15 "2010-03-04T22:27:43Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > OMG, the Sloths! At the Smithsonian. They were the stuff of my nightmares for about a decade. The utterly horrendous, huge sloth with the gargantuan razor claws. > > I have no idea what else was in that exhibit, but I do know it took me a while to get out, so there must have been a lot. > > [Shudder](http://www.150.si.edu/images/3sloth.jpg) > > [Have a look around](http://www.mnh.si.edu/panoramas/htmlVersion/index.html) I’ve been to the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum several times and never ceased to be fascinated by the giant sloth. I had no idea they ever got that big. (BTW, in that photo, did you spot the giant armadillo skeleton in the corner?) Incidentally, that giant sloth skeleton (or a good replica) showed up on the last Tonight Show with Conan O’ Brien. They were looking for ways to run up the bill on NBC before they left so they rented the giant sloth from the Smithsonian to hold up a garden hose spraying cavier on a Picasso. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/16 "2010-03-04T22:56:01Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History also contains two halls of fossil mammals with many megafaunal species on display, including a hall on the Tertiary (Paleocene-Pliocene) and one on the Ice Age (Pleistocene). There are mounted skeletons of [Giant Ground Sloths](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Eremotherium.jpg) among others. Just to jump on the pile I saw the exhibit last month and thought it was terrific. Easily the best I’ve seen like it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prehistoric-megafauna-exhibits-in-museums-on-the-east-coast-us/531249/17 "2010-03-05T00:45:46Z")
Even rural north Georgia has the [Tellus Museum](http://www.tellusmuseum.org/galleries/fossil.htm), featuring a giant ground sloth, glyptodon and mammoth, among others.