The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is one of the largest museums in the world. Have you visited it, yet?
The museum is in New York City, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, right along Central Park and is open every day of the year, except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Seriously… incredibly interesting as it is, who wants to go visit a museum of any kind on Thanksgiving or Christmas?
The American Museum of Natural History is, in fact, the largest natural history museum in the world. Natural history is the science of organisms such as animals, fungi and plants in their own environment. It involves both research and study with an observational more than experimental focus.
Perhaps you’re like most people and understand that we’ve already discovered all the major species of the world and all that are left are a few bizarre insects and maybe some slugs. Think again. One of the things that’s really cool about natural history museums is the fact that they are loaded with undiscovered species, often right under the noses of the people who put them on display!
The AMNH houses thousands upon thousands of different species of animal life, ranging in diversity from tapeworms to elephants and dinosaurs. There are more than 200,000 specimens just from one collection that ended up in the museum, and that collection was just from West Africa!
Just how many specimens are in the American Museum of Natural History? Even with modern, computerized databases, it’s really almost impossible to tell. Collections grow at the rate of about 90,000 specimens a year, and there are many collections. Just a quick glance at the permanent exhibitions doesn’t even begin to explore the vast number of items stored in the museum, tucked away, perhaps for a new exhibition in the future.
Whatever your interest is in the natural history of this world we live in, there’s something to wow you
