SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Southwest Missouri may be getting the state's first major natural history museum, thanks in part to an Ice Age cave that is drawing national attention for its treasure trove of fossils from an era when giant animals roamed the earth.

Plans for a $7.7 million Missouri Museum of Natural Sciences, possibly in Springfield's renascent downtown, are still in the early stages, organizers say.

But a concrete step is expected in March with groundbreaking for a smaller interim building to display some key exhibits, including fossils from the largest bear species that ever lived and a 40-million-year-old whale.

The idea behind the museum is simple. The Ozarks and Missouri are rich in relics from billions of years ago to the last Ice Age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, but those remains are mainly displayed out of state and overseas.

"Scientists come here all the time from around the world and take their specimens back with them. Museums in Chicago, Denver, England, have our specimens, our fossils, our minerals, because we don't have a museum for them," said Matt Forir, the Springfield-Greene County Parks naturalist who is a driving force behind the nonprofit group backing the plan and will be executive director of the museum.

There are several collections of fossils and minerals on display at universities in Missouri, and southeast Missouri has the Bollinger County Museum of Natural History with about 4,000 square feet of exhibit space.

But Springfield's museum would be 21,000 square feet of exhibits, making it the state's first major natural history museum, according to the Association of Midwest Museums.

The museum plan has gained steam since with the help of an Ice Age cave. Discovered accidentally five years ago on the outskirts of Springfield, Riverbluff Cave is slowly yielding fossil treasures. The cave is closed to the public to preserve the fossils.