Editing Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (section)

== Exhibits and interpretation ==
{{more citations needed|section|date=July 2017}}
[[File:ARIZONA SONORA DESERT MUSEUM.jpg|thumb|Sonoran Desert Toad, or [[Colorado River Toad]], at the museum]]
[[File:Coyote at Sonora Desert Museum Tucson Arizona.jpg|thumb|A coyote sleeping on a rock at the Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona]]
[[File:2_Costa's_Hummingbird_at_the_Arizona-Sonora_Desert_Museum.jpg|thumb|A Costa's Hummingbird feeding on a flower in the Hummingbird Aviary]]

The Warden Aquarium opened in January 2013. The {{convert|1,100|sqft|m2|adj=on}} aquarium highlights the roles of the Colorado and other rivers in the region, as well as the [[Gulf of California]], from which the water brought by the monsoon is essential to life in the Sonoran Desert.<ref name="azcentral_flight_aqua">{{Cite web
|url=http://www.azcentral.com/travel/articles/20130104arizona-sonora-desert-museum-warden-aquarium.html
|title=Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is 60, adds Warden Aquarium
|first=Ron
|last=Dungan
|work=azcentral.com
|date=4 January 2013
|access-date=8 December 2013
}}</ref><ref name="zoo_aquarium">{{Cite web
|url=http://desertmuseum.org/aquarium/
|title=Warden Aquarium
|work=desertmuseum.org
|publisher=Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
|access-date=8 December 2013
}}</ref>

The Desert Museum has exhibited lower vertebrates and invertebrates since its early days. Though this hall has been modified over the years, the building dates back to 1937 and many of the painted dioramas were created in the early to mid-1950s. On exhibit is a wide variety of native reptiles, including many species of rattlesnakes. Many amphibians and other invertebrates, ranging from spiders and scorpions to beetles, walking sticks, and grasshoppers, are also showcased.

At Cat Canyon visitors can view small cats, like bobcats and an ocelot, in naturalistic grotto settings. This exhibit area also includes a gray fox and porcupine.

The Desert Grassland exhibit area recreates a desert grassland habitat featuring soap tree yuccas, desert scrub, grasses and succulents.  Visitors can observe [[prairie dog]]s and learn the region's history through a replica of a [[mammoth]] kill site.

Life on the Rocks is a multi-species exhibit focusing on the habitat and species most often encountered amid the region's rocky slopes.  Some enclosures are mesh-topped with natural soils and vegetation; others are glass-fronted crevices or cutaway burrows in simulated soil banks. The "homes" of individual species are embedded in the rocks—many with burrows that can be exposed by visitors.

The Life Underground exhibit highlights creatures that make their homes underground. Visitors enter a tunnel and walk below ground into a dimly lit corridor where various creatures, such as [[kit fox]], [[kangaroo rat]], and [[ring-tailed cat|ringtail]], are featured. Here visitors learn where animals go when the desert heats up.

Currently on exhibit in the Riparian Corridor area are a [[North American river otter|river otter]], [[bighorn sheep]], [[coati]]s (also known as coatimundis), [[North American beaver|beaver]]s, native fish and aquatic invertebrates (i.e., dragonflies and snails). There is also a desert toad life-cycle installation.

The Desert Loop Trail is an unpaved desert trail one-half mile long, passing through areas where [[peccary|javelina]]s, [[Mearns coyote|coyote]]s and [[lizard]]s are on display. The fiber fencing there are designed to be almost invisible to the eye, aiming to make the enclosure feel like naturally open space. Agaves and various legume trees, native to the region, are identified on this trail.

The "Mountain Woodland" exhibit is a Mexican Pine-Oak Woodland habitat recreating similar habitats in nearby mountain ranges. Native species include a [[North American cougar|cougar]], [[white-tailed deer]], Merriam's [[turkey (bird)|turkey]]s and a [[brown bear]]. [[Mexican wolf|Mexican wolves]] and thick-billed parrots also showcased in this area are no longer present in the Sonoran Desert.

There is a walk-in [[aviary]] with northern cardinals, Gambel's [[quail]], [[duck]]s, [[dove]]s, and many other species of native birds. Several benches are located throughout the aviary for observation. A small stream runs through the middle of the enclosure.

The Earth Sciences Center-Cave is an artificial cave constructed with arches, side chambers and a tunnel for visitors to explore its 75-foot length. Along the entry passage, organisms and residents are displayed. Further in, a glistening mass of cave formations are lit from beneath the surface of a pool. In the grand rooms, fossils, geologic gems and minerals, and the history of the earth is interpreted.

Desert Garden was built as a partnership between [[Sunset (magazine)|''Sunset'' magazine]] and the Desert Museum. Three different levels of demonstration gardens display various species of plants that can be used in landscaping for homes in the Sonoran Desert region. There are two water features and seating. Attracted by water and flowers, wild native birds and butterflies frequently visit.

The Hummingbird Aviary allows observation of [[hummingbird]]s hovering so closely that visitors can feel the air disturbed by their wings. In breeding season, nests are near enough to allow viewing of the babies. The aviary houses four species that nest annually. The museum's Hummingbird Propagation Program is the only one of its kind in the world for North American hummingbirds.

Due to its bi-seasonal rainfall, the Sonoran Desert region is known as the "lushest desert on earth" and is home to over 2,000 species of plants. The museum's gardens display this ecosystem and represent a variety of biotic communities found within the Sonoran Desert region. There are 1,200 different species of plants with 56,000 individual specimens planted on the grounds. The following gardens are available for viewing throughout the year:
* Desert Grasslands
* Agave Garden
* Palo Verde Trees
* Hohokam Agave Field
* Cactus Garden
* Labyrinth
* People and Pollinators
* Life Zone Transects
* Tropical Deciduous Forest
* Desert Garden
* Yucca Ramada
* Pollination Gardens