Meet Stan. He’s got a great smile and big bones (forty feet long and twelve feet high). The best part is that he’s always waiting for your visit at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. You see, Stan is a Tyrannosaurus rex skeletonthe second-largest specimen ever found.Wildlife in New Mexico didn’t just pop up out of nowhere in the last thousand years. At the New Mexico Museum, you’ll see the full spectrum of the state’s extensive flora and fauna history. The permanent exhibits start with “Origins,” covering the period from 12 billion to 251 million years ago. It’s here that you’ll see some of the oldest rocks and fossils in the world. The next two exhibits are where you’ll meet some of Stan’s friends (Stan himself is located in the museum’s atrium). “Dawn of the Dinosaurs” is the museum’s newest exhibit, stretching from 251 million to 202 million years ago, otherwise known as the “Triassic Period.” This exhibit is the only Triassic hall in North America, and features New Mexico’s state fossil, Coelophysisone of the oldest dinosaurs, and the second dinosaur in space after its skull was taken up on the STS-89 space mission. The exhibit is followed by the “Age of Super Giants” exhibit, which covers the popular Jurassic period (202 million to 144 million years ago).Five more permanent exhibits illustrate the evolution of New Mexico’s wildlife over the next hundred million years. Other exhibits celebrate New Mexico’s historic contributions to science. In the “Space Frontiers” section, you’ll see how NM’s fascination with the stars started with Native American observatories at Chaco Canyon. Alternatively, in “STARTUP: ALBUQUERQUE and the Personal Computer Revolution,” you’ll see how a couple of nerds named Paul Allen and Bill Gates changed home technology forever.The Museum is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 363 days a year, closing only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. Admission prices are as follows:Children (3-12) 4 Museum Exhibits 4 Dynatheater 4 PlanetariumAdults (13-59) 7 Museum Exhibits 7 Dynatheater 7 PlanetariumSeniors (60) 6 Museum Exhibits 6 Dynatheater 6 PlanetariumThere are four free admission days every year: September 11, November 11, the second Tuesday in January, and the second Tuesday in February. Residents from different counties receive free admission during specific months. In addition, New Mexico seniors 60 and older receive free admission every Wednesday.