Welcome to the Southern Minnesota Museum of Natural History!
“The biggest little museum in Minnesota.”
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![Amber Dagger Fly]()
Amber dagger fly is an insect trapped in Baltic Amber. We hope to raise money for a museum microscope so kids can examine insect specimens like this one.
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![Fish Slab]()
A fish slab is from the Green River Formation in Utah/Wyoming
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![Marius Flower Beetle]()
A flower beetle in Baltic amber.
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![Oreodont Den]()
Oreodonts are the most commonly found fossil of the White River Badlands, and this is an exceptional specimen, showing the animal curled up inside its burrow.
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![Pegmatite Fragment]()
An example of our fluorescent minerals. Kids use a longwave UV flashlight to illuminate fluorescent specimens, like this Pegmatite fragment.
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![Titanus Giganteus]()
Titanus giganteus is the world's largest beetle . Yes, we have the largest known specimen in the world!
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![Trilobite]()
A trilobite from the "Time Vault" where kids can handle real fossils from all time periods.
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![Fulgurite]()
While hunting for fossils the unexpected is sometimes discovered. These finds range from pottery shards to this "fossil lightning" found in California.
Museum Hours
September - May
10am-2pm Saturday
June - August
1pm-4pm Every Day
Or By Appointment
contact: CONTACT INFORMATION
