Skeletons: Museum of Osteology

I recently took an overnight trip to Oklahoma City for a quick getaway with the family. Walking around the “Bricktown” area held plenty of fun things to do, but ever the consummate nerd, my chief interest lay in the nearby museums! The Sam Noble Museum was the big draw, as I had wanted to visit there for several years now, but while looking for other things to do in the area, I discovered the Skeletons: Museum of Osteology only a short drive away! While it doesn’t delve (much) into prehistoric life, anyone who enjoys natural history museums will enjoy this place as well.

The Museum of Osteology advertises itself as “America’s Only Skeleton Museum”, and while one might quibble with that label, it certainly delivers on its promise! Though on the smaller side in terms of overall floor space, this place is jam-packed with skeletons of just about every conceivable type of animal. The displays are arranged for the most part according to their taxonomic clade to better show off their family relationships, and they manage to be fairly completionist. The name of the game here is comparative anatomy, and you can study the similarities and differences in organisms in quite some detail.

I said the museum doesn’t delve MUCH into prehistory, but their primate section DOES include a wall of hominin skulls that show of the rather bushy tree of human evolution. While these were all replicas, it was cool to see this exhibit inserted matter-of-factly next to all the other family relationships on display, showing that the change between fossil hominids is not much more remarkable than that between many other animal groups.

In addition to standard, representative specimens, the museum includes many pathological specimens, too, from a two headed calf, to bone tumors, to a person presenting significant kyphosis in their spine. This is a sometimes under-appreciated form of comparative anatomy that I’m glad was given prominence here, since of course not every person or animal will be in 100% perfect physical condition.

In addition to their regular gift shop, the Museum of Osteology is also connected to Skulls Unlimited, a shop selling both real and replica skulls and skeletons. Their mission statement reads: “Skulls Unlimited International, Inc. is committed to providing legally and ethically obtained natural bone osteological specimens as well as the finest replica specimens to the educational, medical and research communities.” So if you want some ethically sourced skeletal material to decorate YOUR home with, you know who to call!

If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend a visit to the Skeletons: Museum of Osteology. It’s conveniently located near both Oklahoma City and the Sam Noble Museum, which makes it all the more attractive to stop by. My family and I had a great time visiting, and I hope I get the chance to drop in again, sometime! Until then, I’ll be following the Instagram exploits of their adorable office cat, Sir Indiana Bones, to tide me over.