Iowa Museum of Natural History
Encyclopedia
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
on the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
campus at Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, State of Iowa. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of about 67,862, making it the sixth-largest city in the state. Iowa City is the county seat of Johnson County and home to the University of Iowa...
. The museum is known for its extensive collection of birds, mammals, and Native American artifacts. Major research collections include the Kallam Collection of prehistoric stone tools, the Talbot and Jones Bird Collections, the Frank Russell Collection of Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
and Native Arctic artifacts, and a large collection from the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
from the 1904 World's Fair.
The museum houses several galleries and exhibits. Iowa Hall leads visitors on a 500-million-year adventure through Iowa's geological, cultural, and ecological history. Mammal Hall exhibits the adaptation and diversity of nearly every mammalian order, from the aardvark to the zebra. The Hageboeck Hall of Birds displays more than 1,000 specimens, including the historic Laysan Island Cyclorama. The Diversity of Life exhibits describe major plant and animal groups and the art of taxidermy. The newest gallery, the Biosphere Discovery Hub, investigates the complex relationships between culture and the environment.
Tarkio Valley sloths
Shenandoah, Iowa
Shenandoah is a city in Fremont and Page Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 5,546 at the 2000 census.Once referred to as the "seed and nursery center of the world," Shenandoah is the home to Earl May Seed Company and the radio station KMA, founded by Earl May...
. Most recently, a fourth giant sloth of a different species, Paramylodon harlani, has been identified from the excavation site. This is the first confirmed specimen of Paramylodon
Paramylodon
Paramylodon is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Mylodontidae endemic to North America during the Pliocene through Pleistocene epochs, living from around ~4.9 Mya—11,000 years ago .-Overview:...
to be discovered in Iowa.