
The Museum of Tropical Queensland is a museum of natural history, archaeology and history located in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is located in the same complex as the Reef HQ Aquarium. MTQ is a member of the Queensland Museum Campus Network.
The museum opened in 1987 as the "North Queensland Branch" of the Queensland Museum, under the direction of Curator-in-Charge Dr. Carden Wallace.
In 1997, Carden Wallace was named director of the museum. Its current building was constructed at a cost of 18 million Australian dollars, and was opened on 3 June 2000 by the then Queensland Premier Peter Beattie.
In 2003, Sally Lewis was named director of the museum and two years later Spinderella the giant silver orb spider was unveiled. It overlooks Flinders Street East. In 2007, Peter McLeod was named director of the museum.
in 2022, the Museum of Tropical Queensland partnered with the Museum of Underwater Art to showcase sculptures created by Jason deCaires Taylor as part of the Ocean Sentinels above the surface exhibition. These sculptures of scientists, conservationists and traditional owners include John Veron and Maurice Yonge.