Las Vegas Natural History Museum, Las Vegas

When someone thinks of Las Vegas their mind normally goes to the Strip where the top casinos and hotels are located. There is more to do in Las Vegas than visit shows, casinos, and sit by a pool. Las Vegas has museums, wildlife habitats, wedding chapels, race car tracks, and more. One place visitors may find of interest is the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.

The museum is a non profit organization providing education for the Las Vegas community and its visitors. Exhibits deal in the natural sciences with both past and present connotations. Interactive exhibits for children, classroom situations, and preservation are the museum's mission. The Las Vegas Natural History Museum's concept began in 1989. Citizens of the community wanted to find a home for the wildlife and prehistoric exhibits that were currently being stored in a building. It took until 1991 for the museum to open to the public. Since then they have several million dollars to enhance the building, its exhibits, and draw guests in. Exhibits are based on the desert and ocean land from Nevada to Africa. It takes visitors around the world.

Exhibits begin with the most popular Prehistoric Gallery. There is a reproduction of a 35 foot Tyrannosaurus Rex. This dinosaur is animated, lifting its head and roaring at the crowd. A triceratops, ankylosaur, and raptor are also part of the exhibit. The ichthyosaur, a marine reptile has been recreated. This dinosaur was found in the Nevada desert. Nevada at one time was not a desert, but part of the ocean.

An International Wildlife Gallery with mammals from several different places are on display. These animals are stuffed and mounted for visitors to view. One can learn what physical and behavioral traits bears, cats, dogs, deer, and antelope have.

The African Gallery is a large display of Africa's Savanna with the Serengeti showing antelope, elephants, hippos, and other animals of the desert. The jungle is displayed with trees and brush, and thunderstorms rage bringing rain and lightning to the scene. Among this display is the "Out of Africa'' exhibit. This display has three extinct primates of Africa: Australopithecus Afarensis, Homo Habilis, and Homo Erectus.

From the Serengeti visitors can move into the Mojave Desert. Plants and animals native to the area are shown. There is also computer animation and interactive options in this section of the museum.

The Las Vegas Natural History Museum has one live display section. This is the marine life gallery. In a 3,000 gallon tank the museum houses sharks, stingrays, and tropical fish. They have numerous species of sharks. There are also tarantulas, scorpions, snakes, lizards, and a Burmese Python in this live animal exhibit.

The MGM Mirage is a resort and casino in Las Vegas. They have shared some of their profits to create a young scientist center in the museum. This section allows for children to dig for fossils and act like a paleontologist or even a marine biologist. Visitors can feel how it is to be inside a submarine as well as use microscopes.