North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

The state's oldest museum has found a bigger and better home, situated between the capitol and the legislature building. The museum's Exhibit Hall presents a variety of programs daily to the public, often featuring live animals. Exhibits focus on North Carolina's geology and geography, notably its plant and animal life. One of the biggest draws is "Willo," the world's only dinosaur with a fossilized heart. Among the big bones is Acrocanthosaurus, a spiny-lizard-type dinosaur, the only skeleton of its type in the world. The museum has one of America's greatest displays of whale skeletons as well. The Naturalist Center has a collection of specimens ranging from mammals to reptiles, fossils to minerals, and more. Kids take special delight in the Discovery Room, with its hands-on discovery boxes.

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