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Favorite Museum


Scylla

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The other weekend I was in Washington, DC and although I couldn't get away to hunt any fossils, :( I did manage to sneak into the Smithsonian natural history museum with my two boys. :D After a couple of hours of hearing things like "Canadensis! Look Joseph, they have a Canadensis, a Sideneya and an Anamolocaris!" and "Dad these are the first Vendian fossils I have ever seen in real life" and "that is the best Dunkleosteous Terrelli (sp?) I've ever seen, the one in New York is bigger, but this one is in such good shape!" we did have to leave. But I was wondering which museum was there favorite and the answer was: For dino fossils AMNH in NYC, for Burgess shale the Smithsonian, and for mammals the La Brea tar pits (Page Museum). So to the readers of the Forum I ask "What is your favorite museum(s) and why?

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Good post.

For me the London Natural History Museum for the dino's, Cambridge University Museum of Zoology for the Mammals (ice age to recent including the lions share of the ones collected by Charles Darwin) and the Sedgwick Museum also in Cambridge for the large marine jurassic collection, everything from ammo's to plesi's.

Sean

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Rock kickers of the world unite

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I like the small CEU in Price, Utah

very nice new discovered Dinosaurs from Cedar Mountain fm., a lot of Dino tracks, local fossils, local artifact, nice fossil mammals

http://www.ceu.edu/museum/

also I like the Denver Nature and Science Museum

http://www.dmns.org/Denver

Erosion... will be my epitaph!

http://www.paleonature.org/

https://fossilnews.org/

 

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Now I have 4 more museums on my "to visit" list; the London Natural History Museum was already on the list ;)

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:wub: Depends on what you consider the best.If you are talking about large volumns of fossils the Smithsonian would be the one.Overall experience and would I come again,the Bob Campbell Geology Museum in Clemson S.C. is the one for me.

They have a modest collection of fossils,minerals and gemstones,all on display for you to see.None are hidden away in a basement.The staff there are like close family,quickly getting you answers to any questions you ask.Everyoun there shows they truely love what they are doing. :D

This isen't about which college I am about as I am 100% Gator.It is about passion for what you do.I manage to visit everytime I'm in the area,also notice volumns of other repeat customers.They are doing something right there. :)

Bear-dog.

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The Field museum in chicago. I was in so much awe the first time I went there. So much of everything.

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anyone been to fossil museums in china. there is very good one in my hometown. liaoning i think if you interested in fossil, should visit the museum. it is not the best facility, but sure the best fossils. :rolleyes:

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In The Netherlands we have a very nice natural history museum, Naturalis in Leiden.

I visited the Natural History Museum in Londen several times and was lucky to take pictures of (type)specimen of Stromboidea mollusks in their collection. A realy great museum and a must to visit.

The pictures from the NHM London you can find on our site. See http://www.stromboidea.de/?n=Collections.NaturalHistoryMuseum

but you also can find pictures we made in Leiden, Hamburg, Bonn and other museums or institutes.

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Joggins Fossil Museum in Joggins Nova Scotia.

I have a lot of great memories there. Link to the website: HERE!

A link to some of my photos from there: HERE!

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Hi,

Of course all the large national museums are exceptionally interesting and offer an endless amount of exhibitions and information, but one of my favorites is still the Urwelt Museum Hauff in Holzmaden close to Stuttgart.

http://www.urweltmuseum.de/index_eng.htm

This one was started up privately back in the 1800's and specializes in the Fauna of the Tethys Ocean of the early Jurassic which has been found in those layers in the immediate area and prepared in a meticulous and impressing fashion.

Best wishes, Roger.

 

Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger

http://www.steinkern.de/

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Yes, I enjoyed visiting that museum about 15 years ago. It is situated near where the dino tracks are found. It was surprising to see California tar pit fossils on display as well. One of my friends had family in Price. While he was getting a haircut, I walked over to check out the museum.

The Denver Museum is nice. It has one of those "life through time" exhibits where you walk a path past dioramas and displays reflecting how life and the environment changed through time in certain region. It's been so popular that the souvenir book can be found for sale in bookstores out-of-state.

I like the small CEU in Price, Utah

very nice new discovered Dinosaurs from Cedar Mountain fm., a lot of Dino tracks, local fossils, local artifact, nice fossil mammals

http://www.ceu.edu/museum/

also I like the Denver Nature and Science Museum

http://www.dmns.org/Denver

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I've never been to the Smithsonian nor AMNH (haven't been east of Iowa or north of southern Georgia or north of South Dakota) but can offer the following recommendations:

George Page Museum - "the tar pit museum," Los Angeles, California. I had visited it in 1998 and then in 2009. It hadn't changed much but it was great to see everything again. Entry fee is only $7 (a steal compared to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco which costs $25 and has one unspectacular case of fossils).

Buena Vista Museum of Natural History - "the Sharktooth Hill Museum," Bakersfield, California

You will see specimens of just about every animal known from the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed including the rare stuff. The museum has had little money for cases and artwork so some people will grade it down for "style points" but the fossils are worth checking out if you're going through town. The museum is struggling so if you have time for a side trip off Hwy 5, please visit. I think the fee is still only $3.

Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida. It has mammoth and mastodon skeletons on display on the way to a "life-through-time" exhibit. In the case outside the exhibit are several extinct shark jaw reconstructions with real teeth. The exhibit inside is excellent with numerous Florida fossils on display including nice wall-mounted cases full of material and a giant ground sloth skeleton. The paleo exhibit is free (you have to pay to see the butterflies) There's lots of stuff in the gift shop too.

The other weekend I was in Washington, DC and although I couldn't get away to hunt any fossils, :( I did manage to sneak into the Smithsonian natural history museum with my two boys. :D After a couple of hours of hearing things like "Canadensis! Look Joseph, they have a Canadensis, a Sideneya and an Anamolocaris!" and "Dad these are the first Vendian fossils I have ever seen in real life" and "that is the best Dunkleosteous Terrelli (sp?) I've ever seen, the one in New York is bigger, but this one is in such good shape!" we did have to leave. But I was wondering which museum was there favorite and the answer was: For dino fossils AMNH in NYC, for Burgess shale the Smithsonian, and for mammals the La Brea tar pits (Page Museum). So to the readers of the Forum I ask "What is your favorite museum(s) and why?

Edited by siteseer
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Shameless Plug.... The Tate Geological Museum in Casper, WY is the best museum. This is a blatantly biased opinion because I work there. But we do have a nice smallish museum with lots of local stuff (including our newly found, prepared and mounted Columbian mammoth) and a friendly informative staff who are almost always available to answer questions, and happy to talk to other fossil nuts. Truth is I liked the Tate before I got a job there.

Besides the Tate, others I have thouroughly enjoyed are the Geology Museum at the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City. Old school displays with lots of great local SD fossils. It is the museum that was geographically closest to me when I first got interested in this stuff, so i really enjoy visiting it. The museum in Ulan Bataar has the fighting dinosaurs... You can't beat that. My favotrite big museum is probably the Field in Chicago.

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Shameless Plug.... The Tate Geological Museum in Casper, WY is the best museum. This is a blatantly biased opinion because I work there. But we do have a nice smallish museum with lots of local stuff (including our newly found, prepared and mounted Columbian mammoth) and a friendly informative staff who are almost always available to answer questions, and happy to talk to other fossil nuts. Truth is I liked the Tate before I got a job there.

shameless Plug :)))))

http://www.fossiliveraci.org/dinosauri-ammoniti-fossili-squali-ambra-paleontology/47-dove-i-cowboys-cavalcano-i-dinosauri

Erosion... will be my epitaph!

http://www.paleonature.org/

https://fossilnews.org/

 

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For me it's the Nat. History Museum at the University of Kansas. Started a life-long obsession with the fossils of the Niobrara Chalk there!

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I visited the Tate in the 90's. It was small but had some unusual material on display like those legless lizard specimens from the Oligocene. I like weird stuff so that was great.

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Another great museum is the San Diego Museum of Natural History in Balboa Park, San Diego, California. It has a beautiful "life through time" exhibit just completed a couple of years ago. You will see some great local fossils on display (a wall of Cretaceous ammonites, Eocene mammals, Pliocene whales, Pleistocene mammals) as well as some fantastic artwork by William Stout.

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If traveling across western Kansas, don't miss either the Sternberg (Hays, KS) or the Fick Museums (Oakley, KS).

PS: Don't miss the Black Hills Museum in Hill City, SD.

Edited by fossilselachian
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I'm partially biased because I live close to there, but the Milwaukee Public Museum sparked tons of magical dinosaur & museum visiting memories. Not a huge collection of stuff, but I actually helped make some of the T-Rex eating the Triceratops exhibit through a volunteer event when I was a kid. So on a personal level, the MPM is one of my faves.

Also, the Field Museum is another personal fave. So much to see of all sorts of stuff, and I remember all of the different phases of their dinosaur section as it's changed 2 or 3 times in the past 20 years, and yet their reptile hall has remained unchanged since the '60's... Still love it though. And the Black Hills Institute has a small museum hall but it's chalk full of stuff.

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For museums Europeans I'm just near the turn, here are some pictures of one of our trips: museums mainly French but also German and Belgian.

During three years we have tried to visit the major sites, museums and especially near France

http://dinotour.ifrance.com/dinotour2006.html

Good visit !!!

Edited by Vari Raptor

Ignorance is bliss...

facebook.com/TheStoneHouse.fr

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I'd have to say Sternberg, Fick (kinda weird with all the painted shark teeth made into paintings), KU, Gering Nebraska's nat. history museum, and of course my very favorite..... "The Decker Museum of Natural History" which is my own collection that my 6yr old boy, always says lets go "work on the museum, Dad"

For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun.
-Aldo Leopold
 

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Hi,

Of course all the large national museums are exceptionally interesting and offer an endless amount of exhibitions and information, but one of my favorites is still the Urwelt Museum Hauff in Holzmaden close to Stuttgart.

I have to agree with this. It is an unbelievable museum for such a small town. I would also highly recommend the museums in and around Solnhofen. Not just the museum in town but the local quarries have unbelievable displays of stuff coming out of their quarries.

As for US museums, I would have to say the Smithsonian is great. Otherwise I am not impressed by US museums. They are toooooooo much into verts and being an invert collector I get diappointed. Generally the invert displays are small and not a lot of specimens. Very disappointed in the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). They took dismantled their invert years ago and it has never been the same. I hear there is a proposal to do a new invert display. We will see.

Best invert museum. My basement.

crinus

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I have to agree with this. It is an unbelievable museum for such a small town. I would also highly recommend the museums in and around Solnhofen. Not just the museum in town but the local quarries have unbelievable displays of stuff coming out of their quarries.

As for US museums, I would have to say the Smithsonian is great. Otherwise I am not impressed by US museums. They are toooooooo much into verts and being an invert collector I get diappointed. Generally the invert displays are small and not a lot of specimens. Very disappointed in the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). They took dismantled their invert years ago and it has never been the same. I hear there is a proposal to do a new invert display. We will see.

Best invert museum. My basement.

crinus

While I've never seen it in person, based on photos, I'd have to agree with that last statement. If not your's, then the Topor's.

The ROM is adding a "gallery of early life" but I don't know when it will be completed. One interesting piece is a cast they made of a section of Newfoundland shore (Mistaken Point). It is apparently the earliest known ecosystem, with hundreds of fossils, but the fossils are eroding into the Atlantic. There was a bit about it recently on the Discovery channel

There's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else

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I have to agree with this. It is an unbelievable museum for such a small town. I would also highly recommend the museums in and around Solnhofen. Not just the museum in town but the local quarries have unbelievable displays of stuff coming out of their quarries.

As for US museums, I would have to say the Smithsonian is great. Otherwise I am not impressed by US museums. They are toooooooo much into verts and being an invert collector I get diappointed. Generally the invert displays are small and not a lot of specimens. Very disappointed in the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). They took dismantled their invert years ago and it has never been the same. I hear there is a proposal to do a new invert display. We will see.

Best invert museum. My basement.

crinus

That's cuz inverts are pretty close to bugs... and us Yanks hate bugs. Did you ever see Starship Troopers? That's how much we hate bugs.

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I have not been to many mueseums yet, but the Smithsonian was the best, even if the t-rex was anatomically incorrect when I was there.

And Vankor, you must agree then that the only good bug is a dead one. ;)

Edited by SharkTeethCollecter
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