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National Museum of Natural History

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Oregon But Not Forgotten: How Sea Otters Once Protected the State's Kelp Forests

For Sea Otter Day, learn how a suite of specimens featured in the museum’s upcoming “From These Lands” exhibition illustrate the intertwined nature of sea otters and giant kelp in the Pacific Northwest

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The Smithsonian Curator Who Loved Frogs

As the first female curator of the National Museum of Natural History’s collection of amphibians and reptiles, Doris Cochran shaped herpetology at the museum and beyond

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Meet the Scientist Analyzing Historic Bison DNA to Understand How the Species Rebounded From the Edge of Extinction

Smithsonian researcher Sarah Johnson studies bison specimens to understand how the species’s genetic diversity changed after its decline

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Researchers Discover New Lineage of Critically Endangered Sunda Pangolins Using Scales in the Museum’s Collection

For world pangolin day, learn more about how genetic researchers helped pinpoint a hidden lineage of the critically endangered mammals

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Scientists Discover New Species of Poison Dart Frog with One-of-One Specimen Collected More than Sixty Years Ago

If not for a pair of Smithsonian scientists, the fingernail-size frog from Brazil would have likely gone extinct without ever being described

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Meet the Scientist Digitizing Millions of Fossilized Pollen Grains to Reveal Earth’s Climate History

Smithsonian researcher Ingrid Romero studies fossil pollen to reconstruct ancient climates and predict future changes

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To Understand a Changing Estuary, Smithsonian Scientists Search for Biodiversity Buried in the Sediment

This past June, researchers congregated at the Smithsonian Marine Station to catalogue the vast diversity of tiny animals living in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon

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How Much Wood Could a Museum Collect? Much More Than a Woodchuck Could

From providing forensic wooden "fingerprints" to insights on structural engineering, the museum’s collection of rare and wonderful lumber is a prized scientific resource

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How the 'King of Diamonds' Gave the National Museum of Natural History Its Crown Jewel

From the legendary Hope Diamond to a rainbow of colorful gemstones, a multigenerational bond between the Winston family and the Smithsonian transformed the museum’s world-renowned gem collection

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Meet the Scientist Using Micro-CT Scans to Explore Big Questions About Evolution

Corinthia Black studies the anatomical features of fishes and spiders to understand how life on Earth takes shape

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How a 162-Year-Old Specimen Helped Prove the Existence of an ‘Incredulous’ Lizard Species

A serendipitous find in the National Museum of Natural History’s collections yielded just the second known specimen of a mysterious Cuban anole

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Meet the Scientist Studying 'Fossil Snapshots' of Ancient Insect Life

Paleobiologist Scott Lakeram analyzes 300-million-year-old coal ball fossils to reveal prehistoric plant-insect interactions frozen in time

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Top Discoveries at the National Museum of Natural History in 2024

Fungus-farming ants, fossilized footprints and a prehistoric critter named after a Muppet are just a few of the year’s most notable findings

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Newly Described Fossil From Wyoming Sheds Light on When Frogs and Toads Lost Their Teeth

A fragment of upper jaw fossil from the Early Cretaceous is among the oldest examples of a toothless amphibian in the fossil record

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To Bridge Heritage and Science, the Smithsonian’s Inclusive Education Programs Empower Learners Through Culture and Community

Through Indigenous weaving workshops and environmental science projects, the Smithsonian engages in co-learning projects to support culturally responsive education

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Scientists at the National Museum of Natural History Discover Two Squirrel Species Long Obscured by Mistaken Identities

Using a variety of techniques, the researchers realized that two subspecies of squirrels from Southeast Asia were actually unique species in their own right

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The Murder Mystery Linking a Bird Specimen at the National Museum of Natural History to the Mysterious Death of an Arctic Explorer

In 1871, a naturalist aboard the U.S.S. Polaris collected scientific specimens — and possibly poisoned the ship’s captain

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The Name Game: A 'Celebrity' Cephalopod Specimen Correctly Identified More Than 80 Years After Discovery

Collected by the iconic American writer John Steinbeck, the octopus has received a number of scientific monikers

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Fearsome Flies: Meet the Scientist Studying the Top Predators in the Insect World

Entomologist Torsten Dikow, a leading expert on assassin flies, is working to connect a global community of researchers through the democratization of insect science

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Pawpaw-Palooza: The Inside Scoop on North America’s Taste of the Tropics

The strange plant is ingrained in American history and well-represented in the museum’s herbarium and gardens

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