Whale skeletons hang from the ceiling. Butterflies flutter past your shoulder. Emerald tree boas make you shiver. And swarms of unleashed elementary school children rampage all over the place if you arrive after 10am on a school day. Be warned. The glossy new Nature Research Center , fronted by a three-story multimedia globe, spotlights scientists and their projects. Visitors can watch them at work. Skywalks lead to the main museum building, which also holds habitat dioramas and well-done taxidermy.
Don''t miss the exhibit about the Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur, a three-ton carnivore known as the Terror of the South. Its toothy skull is the stuff of nightmares.
