North Museum of Natural History and Science

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

The North Museum is a relatively small museum near me that's mostly aimed at kids but I enjoy visiting now as much as I did when I first went in second grade. The exhibits are nice and I've seen a good variety over the years, though the limited space means that exhibits don't always last too long. The whole museum was remodeled in 2014/2015 so there will be a discrepancy between some of the photos. I much prefer the older version I grew up with, since now the exhibits are a lot more generic-looking and less interesting in my opinion.
A fossil Psaronius stump sits outside:

Upon entering, visitors were greeted by some arctic animals:


These were removed during the remodeling, leaving an empty space with a small shark tooth display.
Fortunately, the pteranodon above the lobby is still there, having gotten a repaint during the remodeling:


There's also a case now with pteranodon fossils on the upper gallery overlooking the entryway:

Now, for the old dinosaur hall:





The T. rex skull was actually a new exhibit back in 2010 when it replaced a phacops trilobite cast and sculpture to join Tony McVey's T. rex.

This moa is in fact real, though I don't know if it has a backstory behind it or not. This case was redone in 2011 from a dinosaur nest display (in the first picture of the T. rex) to dinosaur skulls:



There was also a hologram set up of a T. rex skull. I don't know why it's gone or where it went but it was rather unique.



Unfortunately, the triceratops skull isn't on display anymore. I don't know its whereabouts but I'm assuming and hoping its still in the museum collections.
This section of diplodocus vertebrae was donated to the North Museum by The Carnegie:


The door in the upper photo once led into a blacklit room with all kinds of fluorescent minerals and other objects. It was really cool; I'm not sure why the museum did away with it. That corner is open and basically empty now. More recently a fluorescent booth was added with some rocks inside, but it still doesn't compare to what they had.
I took this photo before the skulls went out. By chance I was in the downstairs gallery, saw the open door, and was invited into the prep room to see them:

Now the dinosaur hall is on the other side of the building and looks like this:


Interestingly, the tibia and fibula on the Camarasaurus leg are upside down. The signage even explains the mistake though I don't think there are plans to fix it anytime soon.





This is the holotype of Sphodrosaurus pennsylvanicus.







This megaloceros is on loan from the ANSP for the next two years. It was re-mounted for the Academy's 200th anniversary exhibit:



There are also some cases with fossils which have migrated from the cabinet museum downstairs. Notice the lack of locality information on the signs; I'm not sure whey they went without it but it would be more interesting to know where they came from.





The adjacent room from the original dinosaur hall was mostly a Native American exhibit, though since the room was more open this is where the museum hosted traveling exhibits. Unfortunately there is no longer a Native American exhibit and the room is left mostly empty with some remnants of the exhibits that once passed through.

The live animal room was once the first area you could visit from the entrance. It was since moved to the back of the museum in order to have more space.
From the old live animal room:



And the new one:







On one of my visits, an upstairs room was open for levitation demonstrations, and in one of the cases there were these old wood models:



After the renovation some were in a case at the beginning of the exhibits but were removed earlier this year so the space could be used to promote museum events.


This nautilus is in a case bordering the discovery room, mostly aimed at young kids with toys and some specimens they can handle.

There are some other miscellaneous creatures in that case as well:

The downstairs cabinet museum was left almost untouched by the renovation. Half the room has cases with birds and the other half is where most of the rock and mineral displays are, as well as a few fossils that didn't move upstairs.

This case of tropical birds has been down in the stairwell for as long as I can remember. There are two of most species as well as a chipmunk. The birds were collected in Honduras and Guiana in 1892.



This cabinet has some exotic birds but since it's in the corner the light isn't that great for photos.

There's a wolverine down here as well:

The North Museum's collections are old enough that a few extinct species are present.









Still more photos to be posted!

[Halichoeres]

I can't read any of the signage, is this a metoposaurid or something?

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

That is a metoposaur, but I don't know the genus and none of my other pictures have the sign in them. That exhibit was virtually untouched in the renovation, though, only being combined with the coelophysis exhibit beside it.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Some nice pieces there! Aside from the generic Asian hadrosaur model...especially compared to the McVey Rex.

[Halichoeres]

Thanks! Cool skull and exhibit, even with some slightly old fashioned models.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Some nice pieces there! Aside from the generic Asian hadrosaur model...especially compared to the McVey Rex.

I never liked that parasaurolophus from the day they put it in. The least the museum could have done was re-paint it. It was still cool that they used to have a button to press that would play the sounds it could have made. And their T. rex costume doesn't look any better.

Thanks! Cool skull and exhibit, even with some slightly old fashioned models.

I'm gonna update the first post in a sec with some really old-fashioned models!

[stargatedalek]

Any reason that poor nautilus is upside down?

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

This is in Lancaster, PA?

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

This is in Lancaster, PA?

Yes, it is! Have you been there?

Also while I'm here I added a few more pictures.

[Derek.McManus]

Some nice pictures there...thanks for sharing with us all!

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

This is in Lancaster, PA?

Yes, it is! Have you been there?

Also while I'm here I added a few more pictures.

No, I haven't. I was just checking that I'd looked up the correct one with Google. I'll have to check it out if I ever finally get to travel to the East Coast!

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I can't read any of the signage, is this a metoposaurid or something?

I was there last week and snapped a picture of the signage for you:



It looks like it's called koskinonodon now.

Also updated the first post with the lobby area, live animal room, and a few other pictures!

[Halichoeres]

I can't read any of the signage, is this a metoposaurid or something?

I was there last week and snapped a picture of the signage for you:


It looks like it's called koskinonodon now.

Also updated the first post with the lobby area, live animal room, and a few other pictures!

Hey, thanks! There's one of these at the Field too, and the sign also still says Buettneria. Damned insects always preoccupying any name you can think of...

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

Was changing the image links and accidentally made a post.  I'll bring them back and more in due time.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

All photo links have been updated! Also added a bit of the downstairs as well. I have more photos to put up eventually as well.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I added a few photos from my last visit including a megaloceros on loan from the ANSP. It was quite a surprise to see it as I was making my way through the exhibits, since it was never announced online.

[Lanthanotus]

"Relatively small museum",... well it looks on par with a lot of museums I've seen, only downer are the not really species-approriate husbandry tanks, I really would not like to be a herp there

Other than that, really nice displays, fossils and reconstructions, I like it.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

"Relatively small museum",... well it looks on par with a lot of museums I've seen, only downer are the not really species-approriate husbandry tanks, I really would not like to be a herp there

Other than that, really nice displays, fossils and reconstructions, I like it.

From what I can tell, animal keepers at the museum are volunteers, and they are pretty well cared-for but I agree, they could do better with some of the setups. Some of them feel a little small.