Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

T. Rex and Triceratops.

We are always excited to check out natural history museums, and found that the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is well worth a visit.  They have some great dioramas with taxidermy critters, a superb collection of gems and minerals, some fascinating live arthropods, and a really stupendous collection of dinosaur bones.  The dinosaur collection is obviously one of the best in the nation and a must for kids who love dinos.  It was lovely and warm when we visited, but we missed their Butterfly Pavilion, which is open April- September and their Spider Pavilion, which is open late September- early November.  Here are some pictures.

Savanna elephants.

Ostrich.  Photo by Jasper.

Greater kudu.

Beryl.  Photo by Jasper.  He loved the Gems and Minerals exhibit.

Having been to the Rice NW Museum
of Rocks and Minerals and seen their
rhodochrosite, we were surprised to see
its smaller cousin in LA from the
same source.  Photo by Jasper.

This is an oarfish.  We'd never heard of these fascinating fish before.  They are said to grow to 55' in length and are
likely to be the source of the sea serpent myth.  This one is floating in a huge tank of alcohol.

Plesiosaur skull.  This fossil was preserved along with its unborn baby.

Carnotaurus sastrei.

Thomas the T. Rex, a nearly complete skeleton of an adolescent, towers over the youngest T. Rex skeleton ever found. The baby was two years old when it died.

Thomas the T. Rex.

Plesiotylosaurus cressidens.

Jordan's sea cows, an adult male and a juvenile found together.

Atlas beetle. 

Yellow stag beetle enjoying some rotten banana.