Sheryl Sinkow

The skeleton of the Hyde Park mastodon, an extinct relative of elephants.

The past is ever present at the Museum of the Earth. There visitors can probe the very old, the very small and the very big, from thousands of miniscule microfossils to a titan of the sea (a 44-foot-long skeleton of a 30-ton right whale) and footprints of the only known dinosaur found in New York state to one of the most comprehensive Paleozoic trilobite, brachipod, coral and crinoid collections in the country.

A Cornell-affiliated institution, the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) boasts one of largest fossil collections in the country with more than 2 million specimens. The museum showcases some of the best of that collection, including such prehistoric wonders as the tiny shells of single-celled organisms, dinosaur bones and woolly mammoth teeth.

Other museum highlights include:

Peppered with games, exercises, mini-labs, fossil digs and other hands-on activities, the Museum of the Earth isn't just about dirt and bones, but offers a glimpse into prehistory while keeping a keen eye on the future.

Admission is free for PRI members and children 3 years old and under; for seniors and students with ID, $5; youth is $3 (ages 4-17), adult admission is $8. For more information about current exhibits, programming and events or to plan a visit to PRI, see http://www.museumoftheearth.org/.