Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History facts for kids
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| Established | 1961 |
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| Location | Bryan, Texas |
The Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History is a cool place in Bryan, Texas. It's a museum where you can learn all about science, nature, and the history of people and cultures. It's a great spot to explore and discover amazing things!
Contents
What Can You See at the Museum?
The museum has many different collections. They help us understand the world around us. Here are some of the things they collect:
- Archaeology: This is about studying old human history through things people left behind.
- Botany: This focuses on plants and how they grow.
- Conchology: This is the study of seashells.
- Cultural History: This looks at how people lived in the past.
- Geology: This is about Earth's rocks, minerals, and landforms.
- Mammalogy: This is the study of mammals, like bears and wolves.
- Ornithology: This is all about birds.
- Paleontology: This is the study of fossils, like dinosaurs!
Amazing Fossil Collection
One of the most exciting parts of the museum is its fossil collection. It's called the Frithiof Fossil Collection. You can see some incredible ancient creatures here!
Ice Age Animals
Imagine seeing animals from the Ice Age! The museum has:
- A complete skeleton of an Ice Age cave bear.
- A full skeleton of an early wolf.
- A complete skeleton of a Saber-toothed cat.
- Many other parts of ancient animal skeletons.
Dinosaur Discoveries
If you love dinosaurs, you're in for a treat! The museum has parts of many famous dinosaurs:
- A huge tail from a hadrosaurid dinosaur. What makes it special? It's one of the few fossils that still has fossilized skin!
- A skull, backbone, leg bone (femur), and arm bone from a hadrosaurid.
- Teeth and bones from a mighty Tyrannosaurus rex.
- Bones from an Albertosaurus, a cousin of T. rex.
- Parts of a gigantic Camarasaurus.
- Pieces of a Triceratops, known for its three horns.
- Bones from a Maiasaura, a "good mother lizard."
Other Ancient Creatures
The museum also has other rare and complete skeletons:
- A complete skeleton of a Psittacosaurus. This dinosaur was an early relative of the Triceratops.
- A complete skeleton of a Confuciusornis. This ancient bird was related to both raptor-like dinosaurs and modern birds.
- You can also see almost complete skeletons of early mammals, fish, and reptiles.
Did You Know?
The museum once hoped to get a real Space Shuttle orbiter from NASA. They were one of many places considered. While they didn't get a shuttle, a nearby university, Texas A&M University, did receive a special shuttle simulator. This simulator was used by astronauts for training!
