Buena Vista Museum of Natural History and Science
Bakersfield, California's Buena Vista Museum of Natural History & Science is an amazing natural history museum. It is situated in the downtown Arts District. The museum is divided into three sections that are geology, anthropology, and paleontology.
The Buena Vista museum was established in 1995. The Bob and Mary Ernst Collection of Miocene fossils from Shark Tooth Hill was the focal point of the museum (which is in Kern County). It has the most Miocene fossils from that site.
Initially, the museum operated out of a tiny area within the California Living Museum (CALM). The collection would expand to include places outside of Kern County. Due to its expansion, the museum had to relocate many times before landing in its current downtown position.
The BVM possesses one of the greatest and biggest collections of Miocene fossils available (from 14-15 million years ago). Kern County contains almost 100 square miles of Miocene fossil beds. The majority of the Miocene fossils at BVM were discovered on Sharktooth Hill, northeast of Bakersfield. These are one-of-a-kind antiques that cannot be found in the same wholeness anywhere around the world.
The Mary Ernst Collection of Miocene fossils from Shark Tooth Hill is the museum's focal point. Other displays include an African taxidermy collection, a Yokuts Indian village replica, a triceratops skull replica, and a recreation of Yosemite Valley replete with roads, buildings, and trails. Several of these pieces are on long-term loan to the museum rather than being owned by it.
The museum also has an interactive component called the "Oh Zone." A Paleo Lab is also available for cleaning, as well as repairing, preserving, and reconstructing fossils and other objects.
A major African animal collection, including over 50 taxidermy species from the African continent, is on exhibit at BVM. Additionally, North American animal specimens are on exhibit too, giving visitors a close-up look at the wildlife that lives nearby.
The upper level of the BVM houses a spectacular exhibit of fossils spanning most of Earth's history. Some of the notable pieces include Jurassic and Cretaceous dinosaurs, Paleozoic samples, and Pleistocene ice-age species. Petrified woods and rock and mineral exhibitions may also be seen on the BVM's top level.
Through enrichment activities, exhibitions, along with special events, the Buena Vista Museum's aim is to educate, encourage, and inspire our community to discover the marvels of science.