Field Museum

What did the world look like through the eyes of a 500-million-year-old trilobite? What could you see and hear in the swampy forest that was Chicago…300 million years ago? How would it feel to touch the face of our early human cousins?

The Field Museum's Evolving Planet takes visitors on an awe-inspiring journey through 4 billion years of life on Earth, from single-celled organisms to towering dinosaurs and our extended human family. Unique fossils, animated videos, hands-on interactive displays, and recreated sea- and landscapes help tell the compelling story of evolution—the single process that connects everything that’s ever lived on Earth.

Evolving Planet Pre-Cambrian Mural
© Field Museum

Field Museum Cambrian Sea Mural
© Field Museum

Field Museum Cambrian Sea Mural, Hallucigenia detail
© Field Museum

Field Museum Cambrian Sea, anomolocaris detail
© Field Museum

Field Museum, Chancelloria detail
© Field Museum

Field Museum, pikaia detail
© Field Museum

Evolving Planet Devonian Mural
© Field Museum

Field Museum Devonian Mural, river detail
© Field Museum

Field Museum Coccosteus
© Field Museum

Field Museum Eusthenopteron
© Field Museum

Field Museum Stethacanthus
© Field Museum

Field Museum Arthropleura
© Field Museum

Field Museum Pennsylvanian Mural, salamander detail
© Field Museum

Field Museum Dragonfly
© Field Museum

Field Museum gregarus
© Field Museum

Evolving Planet Permian River Mural
© Field Museum

Field Museum Varanops
© Field Museum

Field Museum Glossopteris
© Field Museum

Field Museum Augustasaurus
© Field Museum

Evolving Planet Daspletosaurus
© Field Museum

Field Museum Mortoniceras
© Field Museum

Field Museum Ernanodon
© Field Museum

Field Museum Hyracotherium
© Field Museum

Field Museum Paramys
© Field Museum

Field Museum Archaeotherium
© Field Museum

Field Museum Mesohippus
© Field Museum

Field Museum Interatherium
© Field Museum

Field Museum Pliohippus
© Field Museum

Evolving Planet Craumauchenia insolita
© Field Museum