South Florida Museum and Parker Manatee Aquarium

The South Florida Museum interprets Southwest Florida's natural and cultural history from the Pleistocene to the present with stunning, life-size dioramas and dramatic exhibits based on its extensive collections of anthropological artifacts and biological specimens. Featuring fossil evidence of Florida?s earliest marine and mammal inhabitants and archaeological materials representing paleoindian, archaic and pre-contact cultures, visitors of all ages find the South Florida Museum an enthralling, educational and entertaining experience. Southwest Florida's maritime traditions, turn-of-the-century medical facilities and early Spanish exploration in the New World are areas of interest, and the Spanish influence on this part of Florida can be seen in the museum?s Spanish Plaza, with its full-scale replicas of a 16th-century manor house, chapel and Hernando DeSoto's birthplace. Natural history, which is important to understanding today's environmental challenges, is explored in depth through study of the museum's fossil, bird and shell collections. The South Florida Museum is also home to the Parker Manatee Aquarium. It features a 60,000-gallon tank to provide above and underwater viewing of manatees in surroundings that replicate their natural habitat.