National Natural History Museum of China facts for kids
| 国家自然博物馆 | |
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| Former name | Beijing Museum of Natural History (1962–2023) |
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| Established | 1951 |
| Location | Dongcheng, Beijing, China |
| Type | Public, municipal museum Natural history museum |
| Public transit access |
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The National Natural History Museum of China (NNHM) is a public museum in Beijing, China. It focuses on natural history, showing us about Earth's past and the amazing creatures that have lived here.
This museum is connected to the Beijing Academy of Science and Technology. It is a great place to learn about paleontology (the study of fossils), ornithology (the study of birds), and many other parts of the natural world.
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About the Museum
The museum started in 1951 as the Central Museum of Natural History. In 1962, its name changed to the Beijing Museum of Natural History. Then, in June 2023, it was officially renamed the National Natural History Museum of China.
The museum publishes a science journal called Da Ziran, which means Great Nature. It has a huge space for visitors, with 8,000 square meters (about 86,000 square feet) for displays. The museum owns more than 200,000 different specimens! These include many dinosaur fossils and full skeletons. Scientists at the museum also do important research.
Amazing Exhibitions
The museum has many exciting exhibits. The main display area is called the Tian Jiabing Building. Here you can explore different galleries filled with incredible specimens.
Fossil Galleries
There are three main galleries that show off fossils from different time periods.
Mesozoic Era: The Age of Dinosaurs
In the Mesozoic gallery, you can see a giant bronze model of the ancient Earth. The most impressive display is a huge Mamenchisaurus skeleton in the middle of the room. Around it, you can spot smaller dromaeosaur skeletons, looking like they are darting around.
You can also see a Szechuanosaurus standing tall. Skeletons of Bactrosaurus and Lufengosaurus are also on display. In another part of the gallery, a Yangchuanosaurus is shown attacking a Tuojiangosaurus.
This gallery also features many feathered dinosaurs from a place called Liaoning. These include amazing fossils of Confuciusornis, Microraptor, and Anchiornis. This section leads to another exhibit with moving, life-sized dinosaur models and a smaller gallery with dinosaur eggs.
Cenozoic Era: After the Dinosaurs
The Cenozoic gallery shows animals that lived after the dinosaurs. You can see large skeletons of Paraceratherium, Stegodon, and Megaloceros. There is also a skull of a woolly mammoth.
Inside a glass case, you can find the skeleton of an entelodont, which was a type of ancient pig-like animal. The museum also displays skulls of several other prehistoric mammals, such as Homotherium (a saber-toothed cat), another Megaloceros, and Elasmotherium (a giant rhino).
Early Life on Earth
There is also a gallery dedicated to early life on Earth. You'll see a large sculpture of an Anomalocaris, which was a strange ancient sea creature. There are also trilobites and a Hallucigenia that seems to burst out of the floor.
Another cool display shows many ammonites arranged in a spiral shape, like their shells. This gallery also features many fossils from the Cambrian explosion, a time when many new types of life appeared on Earth.
Gallery
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Mounted skeletons of Yangchuanosaurus and Tuojiangosaurus.
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Microraptor specimen on the second floor.
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Mounted skeleton of Szechuanosaurus.
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Skull of Lufengosaurus magnus.
See also
- List of museums in China
- List of natural history museums
