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Natural History Museum

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Megalodon May Be Extinct, but There’s a Life-Size One at the Smithsonian

A 52-foot, life-size model of a Carcharocles megalodon shark is now on display in the National Museum of Natural History

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Reflections on the New Fossil Hall From the Experts Who Created It

The team behind the Smithsonian’s new dinosaur and fossil hall reflect on what “deep time” means to them.

Using a geologist’s magnifying glass, Erin DiMaggio carefully scans a piece of volcanic ash in search of tiny minerals that hold the key to determining the age of nearby fossils.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

How Do Scientists Date Fossils?

Geologists Erin DiMaggio and Alka Tripathy-Lang explain techniques for targeting the age of a fossil find

The sequoia tree slab is an invitation to begin thinking about a vast timescale that includes everything from fossils of armored amoebas to the great Tyrannosaurus rex.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

A 16-Million-Year-Old Tree Tells a Deep Story of the Passage of Time

To explain the exceedingly long life of the planet, the Smithsonian’s new fossil hall designers began with this arboreal wonder

How do parts of ancient creatures, like this fossil skull of an extinct herbivore, Miniochoerus from 33 million years ago, manage to survive and end up in a museum exhibition?

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

How Do Fossils Form?

Learn from the Smithsonian’s curator of vertebrate paleontology Anna K. Behrensmeyer, a pioneer in the study of how organic remains become fossils

The nuance of the new exhibition, "Fossil Hall—Deep Time," plays out in elaborate art, entertaining digital displays and magnificent fossil displays. But don't miss the small stuff.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Here Are 12 Things You Might Miss in the Smithsonian’s New Fossil Hall

Hidden among the dinosaurs and megafauna, are these small details that make “Deep Time” all the more impressive

“In order to interpret the past," says Matternes (above), "you have to have a pretty good working knowledge of conditions in the present.”

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Meet the Master Muralist Who Inspired Today’s Generation of Paleoartists

The treasured Jay Matternes murals of lost Mesozoic worlds are featured in a new Smithsonian book

Ultimately, to understand how the Earth’s carbon cycle works is to appreciate the human influence currently impacting it.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

How Does Earth’s Carbon Cycle Work?

Stanford University’s Katharine Maher explains the mechanisms that heat and cool the planet

The meat-eating predator Ceratosaurus tried to take down Stegosaurus, but the plant-eater got away and gained the upper hand.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Meet the Dinos of ‘Deep Time’

Of the 700 specimens that roam the Smithsonian’s new Hall of Fossils, these six standout dinosaurs make a big impression

Towering over the Fossil Hall is the plant-eating sauropod Diplodocus, which has been on display since 1931 and now is posed with tail in the air.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Amid All the Fossils, Smithsonian’s New Dinosaur Exhibition Tells the Complex Story of Life

The much-anticipated exhibition is packed full of Mesozoic dinosaur drama, new science, hands-on discoveries and state-of-the-art museum artistry

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Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth’s Past

From the formation of Earth through the changing climates and creatures of the past, the Smithsonian’s new Hall of Fossils explores our planet’s Deep Time

Dermacentor marginatus, female, on stomach and on back

More Than One Million Ticks Make Up This Cringe-Worthy Collection in Georgia

The U.S. National Tick Collection is the largest continuously curated collection of ticks in the world

T. rex moves in for the kill on a doomed Triceratops—an herbivore that existed mainly on a diet of palm fronds.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

The ‘Nation’s T. Rex’ Prepares to Make Its Smithsonian Debut

In a new exhibit about “deep time” at the National Museum of Natural History, T. rex is still the king

Artist Gary Staab assembles the massive megalodon. A scale model at the bottom right shows what the finished creature will look like.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Reimagining the Megalodon, the World’s Most Terrifying Sea Creature

The ancient beast of the oceans comes to life in a new display at the National Museum of Natural History

A volcano can provide a great deal of geothermal energy

Could Yellowstone’s Volcanoes Provide Geothermal Power and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

P-R-Z-E-... aw, forget it. P-horse!

Didn’t Make the National Spelling Bee? Play the Smithsonian Spelling Bee

We present a list of some of the toughest words to spell, pulled straight from the collections

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Smithsonian Voices

Museum Director Discovers His Mother’s Childhood Visit to the Smithsonian

By raising her son to be curious about the natural world, this mother helped shape the trajectory of the National Museum of Natural History

The fossil Eremotherium was from south Georgia. And it was an important one, since it firmly establish the presence of the giant ground sloth, which had previously been unknown in the United States.

A Giant Sloth Mystery Brought Me Home to Georgia

A new book from former Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough describes his journey into the collections in search of connections to his heritage

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Smithsonian Voices

How the Geologic History of the Earth Provides Clues for Our Future

For Earth Day, Smithsonian paleobiologist Scott Wing reminds us that we can look to the fossil record to better understand human-caused global changes

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Smithsonian Voices

Why Is This Smithsonian Paleontologist Dressed as Santa?

Cat-loving paleontologist answers your questions in the National Museum of Natural History’s YouTube series, “The Doctor Is In.”

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