The fourth and final gallery for the 5th floor is the “Life through Time” exhibition. This gallery takes us back in time through the different fossils discovered from around the country.

Fossils are naturally preserved remains and traces of an organism. Some of the organisms here are already extinct and are known only through their fossils. There are also some fossils here of organisms which can still be found in the country and other parts of the world.

As you enter the gallery you will be greeted with a replica of a megalodon’s jaw, the largest shark to ever exist on earth. Real megalodon teeth found in several parts of the Philippines are exhibited next to this. Further along you will see fossils of the ammonite – an extinct mollusk which lived at the same time as most dinosaurs. There are also fossils of corals, the black marlin, and various seashells, including the Tridacna, or more commonly called as giant clam. You will notice that most of these fossils are usually found in the oceans. This is because, when these organisms are still alive, most of the Philippine islands are still under water.

Towards the end of the gallery, at a time when more of the islands are emerging and sea level is lower, terrestrial organisms are now present. They are represented here by the fossilized leaves, petrified wood, and fossils of large prehistoric mammals like the stegodon, elephant, and rhinoceros.