Natural History Museum

African Lionesses by Lakshitha Karunarathna, 2017 Grand Prize

These Breathtaking Images Are the Cat’s Meow in Nature Photography

Sixty incredible outdoor scenes are now on view at the National Museum of Natural History

Memorial to a species, Brent Stirton, South Africa, Grand title winner 2017

Tragedy and Beauty of Nature on Display in This Year's Best Wildlife Photos

The 16 award-winning images range from whimsical birds to the tragic aftermath of a poaching raid

Adams worked with artist Emma Segal to create illustrations that represent the new energy terms. The English translation of the words on this image is: Solar Panels, a flat piece resembling a window/mirror placed on top of a building to collect electricity from the sun to power the house.

Inventing a Vocabulary to Help Inuit People Talk About Climate Change

One team is working with Inuvialuit elders to come up with a renewable energy terminology—and maybe revive a dying language

Having shown that it’s possible to identify whale species from baleen, Solazzo says, “Now we have a new tool to study those collections.”

These Ancient Whale Baleen Artifacts Can Now Tell New Stories

How an innovative protein analysis technique helped solve a decades-old mystery

Two tree frogs share an intimate moment. The eye-popping yellow of the male only emerges in mating season.

The Color-Changing Marvel of Tree Frogs Looking for Love

A new study sheds light on the wild world of "dynamically dichromatic" amphibians

The replica (left) and original were first displayed together at the 2012 clan conference in Sitka, Alaska.

This Replica of a Tlingit Killer Whale Hat Is Spurring Dialogue About Digitization

Collaboration between museums and indigenous groups provides educational opportunities, archival documentation—and ethical dilemmas

A member of the Myrmoteras genus of trap-jaw ants, with mandibles deployed.

Prying Apart the Mighty Bite of a Malaysian Trap-Jaw Ant

Its mandibles strike in a fraction of a blink of an eye, but how does it do it?

Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, or porcelainberry originated in China, Korea, Japan and Russia, but is a vigorous invasive in the United States.

Scientists Are Using This Collection of Wood Samples to Combat Illegal Logging

Archie F. Wilson loved wood enough to amass the country’s premiere private collection. Now scientists are using it as a weapon against illegal logging

Jenks' mice, preserved at Harvard in alcohol in a 12-inch tall glass jar, are each tagged with critical information.

A Scholar Follows a Trail of Dead Mice and Discovers a Lesson in Why Museum Collections Matter

A former Smithsonian curator authors a new book, <i>Inside the Lost Museum</i>

Christina Gebhard prepares to measure a condor's wingspan

Behind the Scenes: Skinning Condors in the Name of Science

One intrepid reporter documents the careful science, artistry and gross factor of a very strange party

A crowd gathers in the "Bird Migration" exhibit at the Steinhardt Museum during the inauguration event.

The Middle East Is a Treasure Trove of Natural Wonders. Now It Has a Museum to Show Them Off

Everything from early human skulls to priceless taxidermy relics will be on display in the ark-shaped museum

In 2001, Smithsonian scientists Doug Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide traveled to the Grove in Glenview, Illinois, Robert Kennicott's boyhood home, to open the naturalist's casket and determine the cause of his death.

Two Smithsonian Scientists Retrace the Mysterious Circumstances of an 1866 Death and Change History

Did the 19th-century naturalist Robert Kennicott die of his own hand?

The bird feathers attached to artifacts in the John Wesley Powell collection can give anthropologists further insight into customs and trade.

Telling the Story of 19th-Century Native American Treasures Through Bird Feathers

Famed explorer John Wesley Powell’s archive of his 19th century travels is newly examined

DNA barcoding, as the name suggests, was designed to make identifying a species as simple as scanning a supermarket barcode.

The Key to Protecting Life on Earth May Be Barcoding It

An easier way to read DNA is helping scientists tease apart species and ecosystems in nuanced ways

Amanda Lawrence, lead technician, collections program. With a green sea turtle Chelonia mydas

Why These Humans Are Museum Treasures, Too

A portrait photographer captured 24 staffers from the National Museum of Natural History posing with their favorite artifacts from the collections

"This book was representative of an era during which colonialism and the associated conversion to Christianity oppressed the indigenous population in often violent ways,” says curator Gabriela Pérez-Báez.

A Rare Public Display of a 17th-Century Mayan Manuscript

With the book newly digitized, scholars are reinterpreting a story of native resistance from within its pages

Scientists studying the bones of the Hawaiian petrel, which flies great distances over the north Pacific Ocean to feed, are collecting an invaluable long-term story dating from thousands of years ago.

Bones of the Hawaiian Petrel Open Up a Window Into the Birds' Changing Diet

Industrial fishing may play a role in the shift

Though the pictured fish belong to a German research collection, they represent similar samples around the world that have come under attack.

The Campaign Is On to Save the Natural History Collections of a Louisiana University

The school is displacing millions of specimens in favor of a new track

The male mountain gorilla Limbo (left) and Green Lady, a female from the same species, are on view in the exhibition, "Objects of Wonder," at the Natural History Museum.

Dian Fossey’s Gorilla Skulls Are Scientific Treasures and a Symbol of Her Fight

At a new Smithsonian exhibition, the skulls of “Limbo” and “Green Lady” have a story to tell

Coralline algae of the genus Clathromorphum are specific to the Arctic and Subarctic, and they have critically important stories to tell about their ocean and how it has changed over the centuries.

In Its Layers, This Stunning Pink Coralline Algae Holds Secrets of Climates Past

Unseen and unsung for centuries, these underwater species of coralline algae are providing scientists with an unparalleled new archive of information

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