The museum focuses on the form and function of the skeletal system with numerous educational and taxonomic displays featuring all five classes of vertebrate.

[5] The collections consist of approximately 7,000 specimens representing over 1,800 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.

[19] The exhibits display a wide range of topics, including locomotion, adaptation, and forensic osteology and pathology.

[9] The Museum of Osteology partners with zoos, aquariums, wildlife centers, nature preserves, sport hunters, and private donors to source its specimens.

Speaking on the topic of body donation in the United States, John Oliver criticized the museum for displaying human bones in ways that the donors may have not intended, saying that "When most people think about donating their bodies to science, they picture it in a reputable educational institution, not in some roadside bone collection, face-down, ass-up, arranged in a formation best described as a Cirque du Soleil performer's favorite sex position".