The most prominent feature of the Western and Arctic coast is the broad, flat coastal plain. Nine species of marine mammals, including polar bears, seals, walrus, and bowhead whales, inhabit this coastal sea-ice environment. Seals were probably the most useful animals in providing many of the day-to-day needs of the coastal Eskimos.

The people of the Western and Arctic Coast have created spectacular ivory carvings since 500 B.C. Prehistoric artworks often had engraved decorative lines and drilled pits inlayed with jet, baleen, or wood.

The Dinosaurs of Alaska exhibit emphasizes the Museum's pioneering techniques used to collect plants and animals that lived on Alaska's North Slope during the Cretaceous era, 65 million years ago.

This museum has the largest collection of high-latitude dinosaurs and related vertebrates in the world, including many early mammal and reptilian species.