definition
strict definition
natural history museum
A museum with a variety of exhibits on life forms, minerals, anthropology, and other topics related to the natural world.
A natural history museum is a common type of museum which contains a large variety of nature-themed exhibits, often including displays on evolutionary biology, ecosystems, minerals, prehistoric humans, and related topics. Typical centerpieces of such museums are fossilized skeletons.
The exhibits cover a variety of topics in the natural world. Fossils can be prominent without being required as the centerpiece of every natural history museum.
The collection can include human prehistory alongside other biological and geological topics. A general museum of human historical events has a separate history museum meaning.
