Minnesota's Mummified Monkey

St. Paul, Minnesota

Clearly not native to The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, a monkey, naturally mummified with age, was found in the air ducts of an abandoned downtown Minneapolis department store on April 8, 2018. Known locally as "Dayton's Monkey" -- after Minnesota governor Mark Dayton, whose family owned the store -- the desiccated monkey had likely been dead for decades. How it got into an air duct in a Minnesota department store remains a mystery, although various theories were suggested, none of which were entirely satisfying. The city was so curious about the monkey that it was given to the local Science Museum of Minnesota, which put it on display in its lobby for free.