It also has several examples of the evolutionary precursors to birds, including the holotypes of Confuciusornis and Microraptor, found on field expeditions to Liaoning.

It also contains a number of stone tools used by paleolithic peoples, and examples of other, later fossil skulls from early hominids who once inhabited the area.

Further in the gallery, along with fossils of prehistoric fish such as Sinohelicoprion and Helicoprion, a preserved coelacanth from South Africa, Latimeria, is displayed in a glass case.

The third floor focuses on Cenozoic mammals, with an installation of mounts of Stegodon and Platybelodon along with the skull of a woolly mammoth as the gallery's centerpiece.

The collection is significant as it contains many holotypes that were used in scientific journals to describe a number of ancient extinct lines of creatures unique to China.

It has an active research facility, and its personnel include the famed Chinese paleontologist Xu Xing, who has named and described many dinosaurs and other fossil animals, some examples of which are on display at the museum.