The National Museum of Natural History opened in 2018 in the former Department of Tourism building on T.M. Kalaw Street, adjacent to Rizal Park. The centrepiece is a seven-storey atrium — the Tree of Life — a dramatic steel structure around which the exhibition floors spiral. The collection covers Philippine geology, biodiversity, palaeontology, and ecology, with particular strength in endemic species.
The Philippines has one of the highest rates of endemic species in the world — a consequence of its island geography — and the museum presents this diversity well. Highlights include fossil displays, a diorama of Philippine flora and fauna, and material on the Callao Man, whose fossils found in Luzon pushed back the date of human occupation of the Philippines to over 67,000 years ago. Admission is free and the building is excellent.