From the museum’s vast collection of over 400 million specimens in the fields of anthropology, archeology, astronomy, botany, geology, paleontology, zoology, and wildlife biology displayed throughout the museum’s galleries to the planetarium and observatory, discover and explore the natural world during your visit to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
Exhibits
From million-year-old dinosaurs to enchanting live animals, distant planets to billion-year-old Moon rocks that dazzle, visitors of all ages can discover the nature of their universe as they experience the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s permanent exhibits.
Foucault Pendulum
The Foucault Pendulum is one of the first exhibits you will see upon entering Cleveland’s natural history museum. Visually demonstrating the Earth’s rotation, the pendulum appears to move slightly clockwise each time it swings. Foucault Pendulum comes full circle every 36 hours. Look for the ring of dominoes and other small markers placed beneath the pendulum by staff for the pendulum to knock over on its circular journey.
Meet Jane, a Juvenile Tyrannosaur
Located in the Main Lobby of the museum is Jane, a juvenile tyrannosaur from the Late Cretaceous. While some who have studied Jane believe she may be a juvenile T. rex, others believe she is close cousin, Nanotyrannus.
Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops horridus
See the Museum’s new full-sized replica of a T. rex, located in the museum’s Kirtland Hall of Prehistoric Life. The T. rex was the largest and most formidable predator of its time. It is estimated that T. rex lived 68 to 65 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period. Facing off against the full-sized replica of a T. rex is the 21-foot-long, full-sized replica of a Triceratops dinosaur who is thought to have lived during the same time period.
Lucy – Australopithecus afarensis
Lucy, formally known as Australopithecus afarensis, was a partial skeleton discovered in Ethiopia by a team of international scientists in 1974. While the original bones have been returned to Ethiopia, you can see a cast of the original skeletal materials, a reconstruction of how Lucy’s full skeleton might have looked and a fully “fleshed-out” lifelike version of Lucy at the museum.
Balto
Learn about the heroic 1925 diphtheria serum run made possible by relayed teams of dogsleds. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History remembers the run with its’ permanent mount of Balto, the sled dog who led his team on the final leg of the serum run to Nome.
Happy – Haplocanthosaurus delfsi
70-foot-long, 14-foot-high Happy is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s late Jurassic sauropod, the holotype of Haplocanthosaurus delfsi and the only known adult specimen of this dinosaur complete enough to display in its entirety. Happy’s 6-foot-4-inch thighbone is the oldest displayed anywhere in the world.
Dunk – Dunkleosteus terrelli
On display in Kirtland Hall are the remains of Dunkleosteus, a prehistoric fish existing during the late Devonian period. Found in the shale of the Rocky River Valley, the 16-foot-long armoured fish with huge, self-sharpening jaws is a native Clevelander from some 360 million years ago.
Coelophysis bauri
The museum’s oldest dinosaur acquisition is from the Late Triassic Period. A 30-by-50-foot bone bed in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico containing an unprecedented number of bones of the small, bipedal carnivorous dinosaur, Coelophysis bauri was discovered in the summer of 1947by paleontologist Edwin Colbert and a team of preparators. The bones were found in such high concentration, scientists believe the animals were killed suddenly in a single cataclysmic event. While some of the remains have since been quarried from the bed and placed in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, there is still much work be done and much to be discovered. See the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s mount put together from the findings thus far, known as the most complete mount of its kind.
Johnstown Mastodon and Saber-toothed Cat- Smilodon
Johnstown Mastodon, a prehistoric elephant that became extinct more than 10,000 years ago was unearthed in Johnston, Ohio in 1927. Just opposite the mounted skeleton of a mammoth is the fossil remains of its fellow ice inhabitant. One of the most ferocious and feared Ice Age predators, the Saber-toothed cat is thought to have been a threat to the mastodon when both lived during the Pleistocene.
Planetary Odyssey
Journey to planets and moons in the solar system and while you are there, launch a probe to see the landscape below while you learn about the celestial objects you are visiting. Planetary Odyssey is an interactive display featuring actual footage from NASA space missions.
Moon rock
See a 253-gram specimen taken from the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission. Crystallized in a vast lava sheet some 3.3 billion years ago in the Ocean of Storms region, the specimen is part of a larger sample taken during the mission.
Birds of America by John James Audubon
Of prime importance to the natural history museum is John Audubon’s Birds of America, one of the most beautifully illustrated books ever published and recognized as a masterpiece by both artistic and scientific merit. Proudly displayed in a glass case in the museum’s library is a first addition “double elephant” folio of the book. Printed in nineteenth century England over a 12-year period, it is one of the only 200 sets to ever be bound and distributed.
Wildlife – Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s Living Collections
In addition to its indoor galleries and research collections, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History manages several living collections. Head outdoors to explore the Perkins Wildlife Center and Woods Garden. In this 2.2 acre outdoor gallery adjacent to the Museum, you’ll see Bald Eagles, owls, deer, foxes, bobcats, hawks and other creatures in enclosures designed to resemble their natural habitats.
The Nathan and Fannye Shafran Planetarium
Stop by the museum’s state-of-the-art planetarium. Opened in 2002, the Nathan Fannye Shafran Planetarium boasts a unique design allowing it to function as an astronomical instrument, a titanium-coated, stainless-steel outer covering that sparkles with stars created by embedded fiber-optic lighting, a new digital projection system called SkySkan which expands the planetariums capabilities allowing astronomers to take you on a virtual trip through the universe and beyond, and the Leonard Krieger Visual Effects System.
The Ralph Mueller Observatory
Housing a 10 ½-inch Warner & Swasey telescope constructed in 1899, the Ralph Mueller Observatory is part of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and opened to the public on clear Wednesday evenings from September through the end of May.
Shopping in the Museum Store
Don’t forget to stop by the Museum Store, a great place to find gifts and special keepsakes to remember your time at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Browse through shirts, hats and other unique items perfect for the science and natural history lover.