Las Vegas Natural History Museum

Location: 900 Las Vegas Boulevard North

Time: 9am to 4pm daily

Cost: Adults $6.00; Seniors, military and students $5.00; Children (3-11) $3.00; Children under 2 years are free

A new permanent exhibit, OUT OF AFRICA, features recreations of three extinct African primates: Australopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus.  This unique exhibit, sponsored by the Las Vegas Founders, is the only one of its kind in Nevada, offering a unique educational experience to better understand prehistoric primates.

They are enclosed in light boxes that illuminate when visitors touch a button. The "Explore Africa" exhibit featuring an African Savanna and an African rainforest bringing to life the breath-taking beauty of the Serengeti, native wildlife and a diorama surrounding this domain waiting to be explored.  Hippos, lions, hyenas, antelope, warthog and cheetahs are just some of the animals of the African region as well as the hidden and diverse life in the African Rainforest.

Everyone loves Dinosaurs and the children of the community also know the Las Vegas Natural History Museum as "The Dinosaur Museum." The Prehistoric Room features five moving robotic dinosaurs and real dinosaur eggs including a 35-foot long Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Allosaurus, a raptor and a spiked and plated dinosaur with three hatchlings. 
Go back in time in the prehistoric exhibit when Nevada was underwater and 50-foot ichthyosaurs (marine reptile) ruled the ocean.  Experience the sense of being submerged under the Triassic ocean with the mural of the school of ichthyosaurs and the three dimensional model of an 11-foot juvenile swimming next to its mother.

View prehistoric monsters of the past such as a skull of a  prehistoric crocodile that would have been 50 foot long or Dunkleosteous, a 40-foot fish.

No one would want to miss the Marine Life Room, painted to resemble the ocean and home to several live sharks in a 3,000-gallon tank, a shark egg hatchery and other underwater creatures in surrounding tanks and recreations.

The International Wildlife Room highlights different species of mounted animals from around the world including a 16-foot giraffe, a family of bison, antelope, monkeys and much more. The Wild Nevada Room features the harsh beauty of the Silver State's Mojave Desert with its unique plants, animals, sounds and scents.

The Young Scientist Center features a child-oriented interactive display with an emphasis on learning through doing including a life-size yellow submarine ready for exploration.  The WeekEnd Science Program offers children different activities each Saturday, continuing throughout the year.

This hard work has been recognized with the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, now a Smithsonian Institute affiliate, being named Conservation Organization of the Year by the Nevada Wildlife Federation 1996, Favorite Museum in Southern Nevada in 1998 in Nevada Magazine, and Governor's Development Award in 2000.  The Museum is the home of the only mural by renowned wildlife artist Wyland.  Heritage Park surrounds the museum, which offers a desert garden, picnic areas and a playground.

The Las Vegas Natural History Museum, in association with the Smithsonian Institution, is located at 900 North Las Vegas Blvd in front of Cashman Field and next to the Old Mormon Fort and is one of the largest museums in Southern Nevada.  Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for students, seniors and military and $3 for children ages 4 to 11.