EXTREME MAMMALS: Odd Creatures, Unusual Features at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Model of Indricotherium at the Natural History Museum of LA County

Imagine a furry creature more than fifteen feet tall living in your back yard–but only if you were around 33 million years ago. This giant animal, weighing in real life more than 20 tons, is Indricotherium and once lived all across Eurasia. Today, as a life-size model, it greets visitors to the new Extreme Mammals exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Ambulocetus

This special exhibit, on view from May to September 10, 2017, focuses on mammals that have unusually developed body parts ranging from a walking whale with giant feet (Ambulocetus), bony body armor (Glyptodont) and even venomous feet (the platypus).

Glyptodont

While some of the animals featured in the exhibit are long extinct and known only from their fossil bones, such as Repenomamus, who feasted on small dinosaurs in the Mesozoic, others, such as the Tazmanian Devil, native to Australia, are alive and well today.

Mountain lion and photo of one prowling the hills of Griffith Park above the city of Los Angeles

The final animal shown in the exhibit is a mountain lion, a creature that has managed to survive even in populated areas like Los Angeles.
Visiting the exhibit requires a separate ticket after entering the museum. It is free to members of the museum.