• What is the Arizona Museum of Natural History?
    • The Arizona Museum of Natural History (AzMNH) is dedicated to showcasing and preserving the cultural and natural history of Arizona and the American Southwest.
  • When was the museum founded?
    • The museum was founded in Mesa in 1937 and was originally named the Mesa Southwest Museum.
  • What was the original purpose of the museum building?
    • The building was originally Mesa’s city hall and housed the municipal courts, police and fire departments, the jail, and the city library.
  • What renovations have been made to the museum?
    • The museum underwent several renovations over the last two decades, including:
      • Adding a research facility in 1995
      • Constructing an entirely new wing in 2000
  • How many artifacts does the museum contain?
    • The museum currently holds over 60,000 artifacts from both research and donations, housed within a 74,000 square foot building.
  • What is the role of The Southwest Archaeological Team?
    • The Southwest Archaeological Team is a volunteer-based, award-winning group that supports the museum’s archaeology and anthropology section.
    • They conduct research on Native American culture and help develop exhibitions related to the Southwest.
    • Many artifacts in this section come from the active excavation site, Mesa Grande.
  • What is the focus of the Paleontology section?
    • The Paleontology section is the primary focus of the museum.
    • Researchers working for the museum are involved in numerous projects throughout the Southwest.
  • How does the museum contribute to natural history research?
    • The natural history section oversees excavation, research, and preservation of the museum’s fossil collections.
    • The museum collaborates with universities, state agencies, and local agencies in these efforts.

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1. Permanent Exhibitions

Permanent Exhibitions

© Arizona Museum of Natural History

The Cenozoic Lobby is the main entrance to the AzMNH. Guests are welcomed in to the museum by creatures from over three million years ago up until about 10,000 years ago known as the Pliocene-Pleistocene Epochs. Some of the animals are a Columbian mammoth, a mastodon, ancient horses, the American lion which has been extinct for 10,000 years and the megalodon jaws. All of the animals are displayed as giant fossils. The megalodon jaws hang over the interior museum entrance.

The Natural History Exhibit features a collection of five different exhibitions as focusing on an aspect of the natural history of the American Southwest. Origins, studies the universe and discusses the history of planet earth and its place in the cosmos, how it has evolved from the big bang theory and some of the different space explorations that America has been completed. Many NASA satellite images decorate this space and also the use of computer generated images of what the earth would’ve looked like in all its many stages from conception through present time are plotted throughout the display. Origins also showcases the origins of Humans and what our evolutionary process looked like.

Dinosaur Mountain and Dinosaur Hall are two exhibitions that explore the world of the dinosaurs. Dinosaur Hall features fossils where visitors can learn about the evolutionary cycle of the dinosaurs and the different extinction theories. Dinosaur Mountain brings the era to life with moving and mechanical life size replicas of the dinosaurs in a manmade environment. Guests to this exhibit will feel like they are in Jurassic Park as they work their way through different habitats of these amazing creatures.

Arizona Through Time exhibition takes visitors from the first bacteria to the great T-Rex, while the early history of Arizona is plotted out. See the landscape change from a more tropical climate, to the arid desert that Arizona is today after the fall of the dinosaurs and the Ice Age.

The Paleo Dig Pit is a truly interactive experience where people can dig for fossils and dinosaur eggs. The pieces dug up in this area are not authentic fossils, but are life size replicas that make children feel like paleontologists themselves. This is a great space for the kids to play while adults take a little rest.

2. Plan Your Visit

Plan Your Visit

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Because the Arizona Museum of Natural History is home to thousands upon thousands of artifacts, there are three exhibit stations that are used as rotating spaces. Sometimes the current exhibits may be displayed for a year, or they may be changed for special occasions

The Cultures of Ancient Americas is currently on display and focuses on the three eras of ancient peoples in the American Southwest. Many Native American cultures such as the Navajo, Hohokam, and Apache are explored in this exhibition. From the first Paleoindian peoples all the way through the plains people and what modern people think of when they learn of Native Americans in the area. Replicas of pit houses and other abodes are on display along with ancient ceramics including pottery.

Cretaceous Seas is a part of the Arizona through Time exhibit that specifically focuses on the transitions prehistoric animals had from sea onto land and the evolutionary process associated with it. Journey back to before the dinosaurs to the first creatures to ever walk on land. There are even plants that made a sea to land transition and 11 other species besides fish to amphibians that visitors can learn about in this exhibition.

Rulers of Prehistoric Skies features the biggest animals to ever take to the skies, the Pterosaurs. These ancient animals were not dinosaurs or birds and ruled the skies over 65 million years ago. Often times mistaken for Pterodactyls, replica bones of these creatures hang from the ceilings and over the tree top in this larger than life exhibit.

Others things to See and Do at Arizona Museum of Natural History

One of the unique things about Arizona Museum of Natural History is that it is also a research center for paleontology and archeology. Researchers and those with the proper credentials such as professors, can set up an appointment to spend time in the collections that are in storage. These items are occasionally on display in the rotating exhibit and only viewable by appointment when not being featured in the Exhibits.

Mesa Grande

Mesa Grande Cultural Park is an excavation site in the middle of the city that is home to a Hohokam temple mound. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Mesa Grande has been open since the 1980s in an effort to preserve the culture. It is open to the public and volunteers with many different universities and agencies in Arizona work with museum staff to preserve these ruins. Mesa Grande Cultural Park is not on the Arizona Museum of Natural History grounds and does require a separate admission price.

The Arizona Museum of Natural History is a popular location for birthday parties, corporate functions and weddings. Even high school proms have been hosted at the AzMNH. Birthday parties are a blast at the museum with private rooms for the party and then exploration time until the museum closes.

Arizona Museum of Natural History, 53 N Macdonald, Mesa, AZ 85201, Phone: 480-644-2230

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