Today's Mammals
This living mammal is considered the fastest running land animal
What is a Cheetah
A species of this type of extinct animal was named after Thomas Jefferson. Another example of these animals is the character "Sid" from the Ice Age movies
What is a giant sloth
The teeth of these animals are sometimes found in Kansas. They look very similar to Mammoths but their tooth surfaces are ridged instead of flat
What are mastodons
Like octopi, these animals have eight arms but they also have two additional arms. The largest examples of this group live in the deep sea and have some of the largest eyeballs of any living animal
What is a squid
This Paleogene croc relative ran on hooves and was found in parts of Europe and North America
What is Boverisuchus
Although the blue whale is the largest living mammal, this other creature is the largest of the toothed whales
What is a Sperm Whale
Although the Kansas City area was mostly home to the Columbian mammoth, this other species lived further north and is named for its thick layers of fur
What is the Woolly Mammoth
The prehistoric relatives of these animals lived in Kansas during the ice age but today they are found in the wild only in the mountains of South America and are farmed for their meat and wool.
What are llamas / alpacas
This type of desert iguana is found in parts of northern Africa and is well known for its spiky tail. The one we have in the discovery room is named "Jobar"
What is a uromastyx
Hesperotestudo is the largest type of this animal found in the Ice age of Kansas. Giant examples of these reptiles are still found in the Galapagos islands.
What is a Tortoise
The name of this animal means "forest person" in Malay. They are the great ape species which spends the most time in trees
What is an Orangutan
Glyptodonts might have been the size of a car, but their large shells tell us that they were members of this animal group which is still found in North and South America today
What is an armadillo
Many types of these mammals used to be found in Kansas but today they only live in deserts. Living examples of these mammals are the bactrians and dromedaries
What are camels
This marine invertebrate animal has very complex eyes with 17 vision cones. They hunt their prey by clubbing or spearing them with their front arm appendages. They take their name from a type of insect that lives on land
What is a mantis shrimp
This family of snakes includes most of the snake species found in North America during the early Cenozoic. Their largest member species lived in South America in the Paleogene and was one of the largest snakes of all time.
What are the boas/boids
This mammal is nocturnal and is well known for its strange yellow eyes and its long index finger which it taps against the sides of trees listening for moving insects
What is the Aye-aye lemur
This animal belongs to the genus Equus and was once found throughout North America during the Ice Age but became extinct in this continent before being re-introduced by the Spanish in the 15th century.
What are horses/donkeys/mules
These animals are in the family Tayassuidae. Their fossils are known from the Ice Age in Kansas but their modern relatives include mammals like the Javelina
What are peccaries
This group of insects in the order Coleoptera represents 25% of all known animal species. The "Goliath" species of this type of animal can grow to be over 6 inches long and their wings are covered in a set of hardened elytra
What is a beetle
The largest members of the monitor lizard group found today is the Komodo dragon but this prehistoric giant lizard was the largest monitor lizard of all time
Megalania prisca / Varanus priscus
Name one of the two deepest diving ocean mammals. One is named for its trunk-like nose, the other is named for it's long slender snout
Elephant seals - Beaked whales
These domesticated animals are descended from the Ice Age Auroch which once lived in parts of Europe and Asia. These wild Aurochs were even said to be used in fights at the Roman Coliseum! Today the wild ancestors of these animals are entirely extinct
What are cows
Titanothere fossils represent some of the largest mammals found in Kansas during the Paleogene. These animals are most closely related to horses, tapirs, and this group of living mammals which also includes the extict Paraceratherium
What are Rhinos
These animals are distant relatives of scorpions and have been around since before the Silurian period. They live in the ocean have a tail ending in a sharp point called a telson
What is a horseshoe crab
This is the largest living species found in the group of reptiles which also includes caimans and gharials
Saltwater crocodile