The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History takes visitors from Iowa’s ancient environments to a 47-foot Atlantic right-whale skeleton and a historic island diorama.
In Iowa Hall, the story begins with 500 million years of Iowa geological, ecological, and cultural history. The gallery includes a Devonian coral reef, a coal swamp, and a giant ground sloth exhibit, showing environments and species connected to different periods of the region’s past.
Upstairs in Mammal Hall, the scale shifts dramatically. The gallery includes a 47-foot Atlantic right-whale skeleton, a giant panda specimen, and musk oxen. These displays expand the route beyond Iowa landscapes into broader natural history collections.
Continue to Bird Hall, where the museum displays more than 1,000 birds, a bird sounds station, and an albatross model. At the west end of the gallery, the Laysan Island Cyclorama presents a 360-degree island diorama with a 138-foot mural backdrop and bird-call soundtrack.
The Museum of Natural History is located in Macbride Hall and is free to visit. Public hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; it is closed Sunday through Tuesday.
