The museum has a three-story indoor waterfall on Dinosaur Mountain, which features
animatronic dinosaurs and a
flash flood display that runs every 30 minutes. consists of a native peoples’ gallery, with exhibits about
Paleoindian big
game hunters and gatherers, the first inhabitants of North America, and the desert cultures that developed later. It also holds a re-creation of a
Hohokam village, with
pithouses and above-ground structures, outfitted with real artifacts as they might have been from A.D. 600–1450. Another exhibit is the Ancient Cultures of Mexico. The Origins gallery is designed as a voyage through the timeline of the cosmos and discusses major events in the history of planet Earth. Among the exhibitions is a hands-on Exploration Station and the Paleo Dig Pit. Three temporary galleries offer a variety of subjects. The evolution of flight—was it from the ground-up or from the tree down? AzMNH's exhibition, "
Rulers of the Prehistoric Skies," helped to answer that question. That exhibit has since been replaced, but the
pterosaurs are still visible throughout the museum. At no other time in the history of life on Earth were there animals like the pterosaurs, those flying creatures who truly did rule the sky. They were the first vertebrates to achieve flight, and they did it in a way that was all their own. In addition to very distinctly shaped, thin, hollow bones, pterosaurs had membranous wings which were probably flexible and able to change shape during flight. The mechanical details are not completely understood by paleontologists, who share multiple opinions. The goal of the exhibit was to have visitors understand the amazing diversity among pterosaurs. Exhibit volunteers helped to achieve this goal by building everything from “rock blocks” and puzzles, to actual models of the fliers themselves. Don Puffer created a 4-foot mechanical pterosaur known as “Clam Digger” that demonstrated the opening and closing of its wings. Ed Mack's sculpture
Pteranodon sternbergi is a stunning life-size model that hangs over Dinosaur Mountain. "
Rulers of the Prehistoric Skies" was part of a Mesa Arts and Culture First Flight initiative and focused on flying reptiles; the exhibit also explored the evolution of flight from insects, the true first flyers, to birds and bats. The "Rulers of the Prehistoric Skies" exhibit opened on February 4, 2012, and was on display for approximately four years due to its popularity. Another of the changing exhibits was "
The Primal Desert Next Door: Land of Black Volcanoes and White Sands," open from February 26, 2011, until January 2013. Much of the
Sonoran Desert lies south of the
Arizona border in
Mexico. This vast expanse and its diverse wildlife was the focus of this exhibition, which included wall murals depicting the vast contrasting dark “moon-scape” volcanic fields and bright seas of sand dunes. Visitors were able to learn about the geology,
flora, and
fauna of this region though photographs and interactive components. The exhibition was based on the book
Land of Black Volcanoes and White Sands, The Pinacate and Gran Desierto De Altar Biosphere Reserve, by Larry Marshall and Clark Blake. Interactive features included a dune machine, which replicated the phenomena of
sand dunes, a hands-on basin and range topography display, and a mock
lava tube, which children could climb through. This exhibition has since been replaced. All exhibitions are described at http://www.azmnh.org AzMNH exhibitions are funded mostly by private donations to the Arizona Museum of Natural History Foundation, the Museum's 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The museum also maintains the Sirrine House, a
Queen Anne style home built in
Mesa in 1896. The museum says that the home is the only fully restored Victorian-era home museum. The Sirrine House is open only for special events. ==Paleontology==