Dallas Animal Exhibits | Perot Museum of Nature and Science

Good for

All Ages

Location

Level 2

Brain Juice Focus

Animals

No hiking shoes needed!

Get ready for an indoor nature walk — where everything from single-cell organisms to complete ecosystems will open your mind to the power and potential of living things. You'll discover fossils, taxidermy specimens, 3D animations, and interactive games that demonstrate how factors like genetics and environment are shaping the next generation of plants, animals — and even bacteria!

Don't Miss!

A museum patron looks closely at a display.

Use your senses!

Observe the sights, sounds, textures, and smells of three different Texas ecoregions — the Pineywoods, Blackland Prairie, and Chihuahuan Desert.

A father and son explore a museum display together.

Origins and Adaptations

What is life, and how do species adapt over time? Put it all in perspective as you uncover the facts through insights from scientists who are making breakthroughs in cellular research, and explore theories through an interactive digital book about the origins of life.

Some young children engage with an environmental display.

Explore environmental factors

Explore how factors like pollution or climate change could lead to adaptation or extinction.

A young child inside a display's tunnel.

Uncover the world beneath your feet

Immerse yourself in the Pineywoods ecoregion when you crawl under a diorama to explore all that lies beneath the surface.

Use your senses!

Origins and Adaptations

Explore environmental factors

Uncover the world beneath your feet

Discovering Life Hall Scavenger Hunt

Find the rattlesnake and look closely: one of its fangs is made of clear epoxy!
Find the melanistic Leopard (burgundy-colored) — it's from India.
Take the stairs down from Level 3 to get the best view of the Black-Maned Lion from Tanzania.

A view of an empty Discovering Life display area.

Amazing Fact No. 23

Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards and upside down.

The design of a hummingbird's wings differs from most other types of birds. Hummingbirds have a unique ball and socket joint at the shoulder that allows the bird to rotate its wings 180 degrees in all directions. The shape of their wings are long, narrow and tapered, which allows them to move more quickly and easily through the air. Additionally, the shoulder and elbow joints of the wing are very close to their tiny bodies, allowing the wings to tilt and pivot. These characteristics allow hummingbirds to change flight directions in a way other birds cannot.

Amaze Me Again!

What to do next

Take what you've learned about cells and get up close and personal with them inside the Bio Lab of the Being Human Hall. Become a scientist when you perform a DNA extraction, examine your very own cheek cells, or test which household chemicals kill microbes.

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Adapt to survive

Discovering Life Hall

No hiking shoes needed!

Use your senses!

Origins and Adaptations

Explore environmental factors

Uncover the world beneath your feet

Use your senses!

Origins and Adaptations

Explore environmental factors

Uncover the world beneath your feet

Discovering Life Hall Scavenger Hunt

What to do next

Start Your Adventure

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