If someone asked you where you think the world’s largest collection of dinosaur fossils is kept, what might you guess? Chances are, your first guess wouldn’t be in New York City, but that’s exactly where they are. The largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world is at the American Museum of Natural History. This museum is large and has so much to offer its visitors, but its exhibits about dinosaurs are its most popular. Read on to learn more about all the amazing dinosaur-related things that you can see there, and more about the collection, too.
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the most impressive and prestigious museums in the nation. It takes up several blocks of space on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
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This museum has over 32 million specimens and artifacts in its many collections. Visitors can learn about nature, space, geology, animals, human history, and more at this museum.
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Perhaps the biggest draw at the American Museum of Natural History are the exhibits of dinosaur fossils and fossils of other animals over time.
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In fact, it’s the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world.
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This duck-billed dinosaur was known as Corythosaurus. Its name is a nod to the helmets worn by Corinthians in ancient Greece.
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Of course, not all of the fossils are on display to the public. Some are stored elsewhere in the museum’s archives. Everything they have, however, is classified, labeled, and organized.
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This fish is known as Xiphactinus audax. It lived during the Late Cretaceous some 85 million years ago. It swam in the great inland sea that covered most of North America at the end of the Age of Dinosaurs.
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Centrosaurus apertus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 75 million years ago.
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When it lived 10 million years ago, Otodus megalodon was far bigger than the biggest shark today. Like modern sharks, its skeleton was made of cartilage, which disappeared, but its fossilized teeth survived.
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You’ll learn so much about dinosaurs while examining the fossils that they left behind.
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The American Museum of Natural History also has many fossilized remains of the creatures that came after the dinosaurs. Everything was big back then; this skeleton is an ancestor of today’s dogs.
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Edaphosaurus lived some 280 million years ago, in the Permian Period. It looks like a lizard but it was actually an early mammal.
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Megalochelys atlas was a large land turtle that lived during the Late Pliocene about 2 million years ago.
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Phascolonus gigas was a giant wombat lived some 100,000 years ago in the Pleistocene Epoch.
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Check out this mastadon! It seems like it’s almost ready to come back to life.
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The American Museum of Natural History is full of amazing and interesting things. The fossils are only the beginning! Plan a visit there today.
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You’ll love this very special museum, and you’ll especially enjoy checking out the incredible dinosaur fossil collection. Plan a visit to the American Museum of Natural History today!
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Are you looking for more great museums to visit in NYC? If so, check this out: These 3 New York Museums Are So Fascinating It’s Hard To Believe Admission Is Free
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Address: American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USA
