The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science

[Strepsodus]

Last December I went to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. They displayed some modern animals but I'll focus on prehistoric life here.

The main display was of the state fossil, Basilosaurus.


Right next to it was a Smilodon battling a Jefferson's Ground Sloth.


A fossil hall started with a Dunkleosteus to represent the Devonian period.


There were a lot of display cases in the fossil hall, and I wasn't able to photograph most of them. I tried looking them up but I can't find them. If someone can get me pictures of those display cases, please DM me.


Mosasaur skulls and parts of a Gorgosaurus skeleton hung on the wall to represent the Cretaceous.


And lastly, the Cenozoic displayed a Mastodon skull and some other mammals.


The gift shop has a nice selection of Safari models, both living and extinct. I bought 4 figures. The figures are Safari's Mastodon, Citipati, Wooly Rhino, and Microraptor.

[Dusty Wren]

Thanks for the photos, S @Strepsodus! I enjoy the museum tours on the forum, especially of smaller museums like this. Also, I had no idea that Basilosaurus was Mississippi's state fossil. Apparently, Alabama claimed it, too. 

It's nice to see Safari toys in the wild. Most of the museums I've been to recently have barely any plastic toys at all (stuffed toys seem to have taken over).

[Gwangi]

Thanks for sharing these! I too love seeing smaller, more locally focused museums. This one looks great! I really like the Basilosaurus. This thread reminds me that I have to post pictures of my trip to the Delaware Museum of Nature and Science.

[bmathison1972]

Ooooo I can't recall ever seeing a Basilosaurus fossil in a museum before! Neat!

[Newt]

That looks very nice, I'll have to put it on the itinerary for my planned Natchez Trace trip.

[Halichoeres]

Cool, thank you for sharing your photos. I didn't manage to make it to the museum when I visited Jackson. My local museum has a nice Basilosaurus skull but not a full mount. I think that Dunk skull might be cast from the same Cleveland specimen as the one here!

[Strepsodus]

That looks very nice, I'll have to put it on the itinerary for my planned Natchez Trace trip.

If you're going to pay a visit to the museum, may I ask that you take pictures of all the displays on the fossil hall? Thank you.

[Newt]

S @Strepsodus - I'll try. This won't be any time soon, though.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

I went there once during the year I lived in Mississippi! I got to chat with one of the paleontologists and he let me tour the collections briefly, though I sadly have forgotten his name.