National Museum of Natural History

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Fetching Fossils and Unwrapping Mannequins: Here’s What Happens When a Museum Exhibition Closes

In the wrap-up of “Objects of Wonder,” hundreds of the museum’s most treasured specimens are returning to the collection

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This Volunteer Week, Get to Know the Smithsonian Volunteer Who Meticulously Curated Thousands of Tiny Crustaceans

Vial after vial, and label after label, Sofia Barretto Thomas dedicated her time and careful eye to sorting the thousands of amphipods donated by the late cave biologist John R. Holsinger

In a black and white photo, three women and one man sit together in a room with a large circular window behind them, surrounded by papers.

Honoring the Overlooked Contributions of Women Anthropologists in the National Anthropological Archives

Ongoing research in the Department of Anthropology brings to light historically under recognized contributions of female researchers and staff

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1.1 Billion Objects and Counting: Inside the Effort to Tally Natural History Specimens Around the Globe

This year, NMNH director Kirk Johnson helped spearhead an effort to add up the collections of the world’s largest museums

A shelf of brown boxes with white bones peeking out of the top has small black beetles crawling all over them.

Meet the Smithsonian’s Spookiest Staffers: Flesh-Eating Beetles

This Halloween season, learn how the National Museum of Natural History’s dermestid beetle colony transforms decaying animal carcasses into spotless skeletons.

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A Bounty of Butterflies Arrives at the Smithsonian

Entomologist Floyd Shockley drove across the country to pick up a premier butterfly and moth collection

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In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt Won a Presidential Election…And a Pair of Ostriches

For President’s Day, learn the story behind the giant birds sent to Washington to celebrate Roosevelt’s reelection

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Five Facts About the Smithsonian’s Sprawling Whale Collection That Will Blow Your Mind

This World Whale Day, take a look inside of the National Museum of Natural History’s whale bone repository

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2022 in Review: Smithsonian Staff Sifts Through an Ocean of Fossils

Integrating shimmering ammonites, toothy mosasaurs and a massive haul of specimens into the growing National Fossil Collection

Multiple pages of paper adorned with brown and yellow pressed plant specimens sit, one after the other, on a dark gray table-like surface. In the background are two people with purple gloves on.

2022 in Review: The National Herbarium Goes Digital

In May, the museum completed a groundbreaking digitization process that brought nearly four million pressed plants online.

A man wearing a white hard hat, neon vest, dark gray pants and yellow gloves sits in a pit of dark rock. Just below his knees is a boulder with a piece of lighter gray fossil sticking out of the top.

Meet the Smithsonian Director Bringing a Deep Time Perspective to the International Climate Discussion

Kirk Johnson highlights the vital climate context museum collections provide at international COP conferences

Researchers at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History traveled the world and made many new discoveries this year—including 18 new species of pelican spiders. (Nikolai Scharff)

Check Out Some of Our Most Popular Discoveries From 2018

Celebrate the new year with some of our most popular scientific discoveries from 2018.

The newly opened Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University preserves and displays Israel’s natural heritage. (David Furth, Smithsonian Institution)

Here’s How the Smithsonian Helped Develop the Middle East’s First Natural History Museum

The Middle East’s first comprehensive natural history museum recently opened with help from the Smithsonian.

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