The ancient mammal Doedicurus, with Smilodon on top attacking. This specimen on view in the traveling exhibition Animal Armor: The Evolution of Armor in Dinosaurs. Courtesy/NMMNHS
NMMNHS News:
ALBUQUERQUE — The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) welcomes a new traveling exhibition exploring the natural defenses that animals have evolved over millions of years. Animal Armor: The Evolution of Armor in Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals will be on view when the museum reopens this spring.
“From Ankylosaurus to armadillos, animals have been evolving new ways to defend themselves from predators for hundreds of millions of years,” NMMNHS Executive Director Dr. Anthony Fiorillo said. “This new traveling exhibition will be just one of the new features visitors can expect when we reopen this spring.”
Developed by Colorado-based Gaston Design Inc., Animal Armor explores how animals have evolved defensive armor to protect themselves from predators and competition over the last 500 million years. These evolutions have resulted in some of the most beautiful and bizarre adaptations in the animal kingdom.
In Animal Armor, visitors will have a chance to meet all kinds of ancient and modern armored animals, from beetles and armadillos to prehistoric giant crocodilians and dinosaurs, and to discover how these animals’ built-in defenses have inspired human armor. This exhibition will also include rarely seen specimens from the museum’s Collections, including fossils from Glyptotherium texanum, a giant prehistoric relative of the armadillo, and Deinosuchus, a prehistoric crocodile relative that exceeded 30 feet.
The exhibition will open when the museum reopens following its ongoing renovation project, slated for Spring 2026. The exhibition will be located on the museum’s first floor. There is no additional fee to explore the exhibit. This exhibition is sponsored in part by Thornburg Investment Management.
Animal Armor is just one of the changes to the museum that visitors can expect, alongside a new lobby and ticketing area, an expanded gift shop, and updated infrastructure. To learn more about the exhibition and plans for the museum’s reopening, visit nmnaturalhistory.org.
About the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Board of Trustees of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. Programs and exhibits are generously supported by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation, through the generous support of donors. Established in 1986, the mission of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science is to preserve and interpret the distinctive natural and scientific heritage of our state through extraordinary collections, research, exhibits, and programs designed to ignite a passion for lifelong learning. The NMMNHS offers exhibitions, programs, and workshops in Geoscience, including Paleontology and Mineralogy, Bioscience, and Space Science. It is the Southwest’s largest repository for fossils and includes a Planetarium and a large format 3D DynaTheater.