University of Michigan’s Museum of Natural History is officially in its new home & OPEN! We have been dying to see it! We finally did! Check it….

UPDATE: At this time the Museum is only open Fridays and Sundays noon-4pm and timed reservations are required, all details including see link to reserve your time are at the bottom of the post.

This prehistoric power couple features two unusually complete mastodon skeletons — a male and a female, both discovered and excavated with help from U-M scientists, within a few hours’ drive from Ann Arbor!

Only place in the world where you can see a male and female mastodon skeleton side-by-side

What’s more, the On the Trail of Mastodons exhibit is the only place in the world where you can see a male and female mastodon skeleton side-by-side and see a mastodon skeleton paired with a mastodon trackway. These footprints were cast from a trail left by a mastodon near Saline, Michigan. This is the only mastodon trackway ever found!

What’s more, you can step into a cast of a separate mastodon footprint and touch a cast-replica of an eight-foot mastodon tusk. You can also learn how U-M paleontologist Daniel Fisher and his team use tusks to learn how these amazing creatures lived and what factors may have led to their extinction.

How cool is this? You can not only get a glimpse into the awesome process of preparing fossils but you can actually interact with the professionally-trained preparators in the lab.

Evolution, Life Through Time was a bit out there….but, you need to visit &judge for yourself!

At 25 feet long with a 35-foot wingspan, the pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus northropi rivals a small airplane in size and is one of the largest winged animals to ever have lived.

Reconstructed from fossil bones discovered in Texas, the life-sized model demonstrates what it would have been like seeing these enormous flying reptiles swoop and dive overheard. Step onto the bridge over the West Atrium for a closer look directly into its eye…if you’re feeling brave!