Transvaal Museum

Transvaal Museum, museum in Pretoria, South Africa. It stands opposite Pretoria City Hall. The museum is known for its collection of materials on the palaeontology and anthropology of southern Africa, most notably the fossilized remains of Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus robustus—two species of hominids (ancestors or distant relatives of human beings) dating from between 1.5 million and 4 million years ago (see Australopithecines). Archaeologists discovered the remains at sites in the eastern Transvaal beginning in 1896. The rest of the museum’s collection consists largely of stuffed mammals and birds, and preserved insects displayed in glass cases. There is also an impressive exhibit of a complete whale skeleton.