United States historic place
| University of Michigan Museum of Natural History | |
| U.S. Historic district Contributing property | |
 The Hall of Evolution | |
| Location | 1105 N University Ave, Ann Arbor, Michigan |
|---|---|
| Website | lsa |
| Part of | University of Michigan Central Campus Historic District (ID78001514) |
| Designated CP | June 15, 1978 |
The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History (UMMNH) is a natural history museum of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.
A unit of the university's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the current building is located in the Biological Sciences Building on the university's Central Campus. The museum has about 45,000 square feet of exhibit space. The natural history collections began in 1837, and for many years the museum was based in the Alexander Ruthven Museums Building, dating to 1928, that it shared with three research museums (Anthropology, Zoology, Paleontology). The museum also used to be administered through the same organization as the University Herbarium. 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 non-profit organization. It employs 23 full-time staff and between 50 and 70 paid student docents.
Exhibits
The museum has four major permanent exhibits:
- The Hall of Evolution on the second floor displays exhibits on evolution and prehistoric life, including fossils, models, and dioramas of dinosaurs, ancient whales, mastodons, and other organisms. It is the largest collection on prehistoric life in Michigan.
- The Michigan Wildlife Gallery on the third floor displays exhibits on birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, plants, and fungi native to the Great Lakes. There are taxidermy 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, and include artifacts from human cultures 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
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Lobby rotunda in the Alexander Ruthven Museums Building
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The Michigan Wildlife Gallery in the Alexander Ruthven Museums Building
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The Michigan Wildlife Gallery in the Alexander Ruthven Museums Building
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The Michigan Wildlife Gallery in the Alexander Ruthven Museums Building
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Previous Michigan Wildlife Gallery: Opossums
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Previous Hall of Evolution: Permian Period
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Previous Hall of Evolution: Triassic Period
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Previous Hall of Evolution: Cretaceous Period
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Previous Hall of Evolution: Oligocene Epoch
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Replica of an Archaeopteryx fossil
References
- "NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
- ^ Hodges, Michael H. (April 12, 2019). "UM Museum of Natural History shines in new home".
- "History". University of Michigan Museum of Natural History. The University of Michigan. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
External links
Categories:- 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