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Natural History Museum

Scientists have for the first time identified the four people buried in Jamestown's first church. They are (from left) minister Robert Hunt, Sir Ferdinando Wainman, Captain Gabriel Archer and Captain William West.

New Jamestown Discovery Reveals the Identities of Four Prominent Settlers

The findings by Smithsonian scientists dig up the dynamics of daily life in the first permanent British settlement in the colonies

A reconstruction of "grandfather turtle."

New Research

This Ancient Creature Shows How the Turtle Got Its Shell

The 240-million-year-old “grandfather turtle” may be part of the evolutionary bridge between lizards and shelled reptiles

Smithsonian geologist Elizabeth Cottrell (right) helps undergraduate intern Kellie Wall examine a sample of Earth’s interior. Cottrell co-directs Natural History Research Experiences, a program funded by the National Science Foundation that trains 18 students every summer.

Commentary

Hey Scientist, Who Are You Mentoring this Summer?

The director of education at the National Museum of Natural History delivers a clarion call to all scientists: Be a Mentor. Raise Up the Next Generation

This image, Elephants at Twilight, Botswana, 1989, writes Lanting, "is my homage to the primeval qualities of southern Africa's wilderness, the grandeur of elephants, and the precious nature of water in a land of thirst."

Wildlife Photographer Frans Lanting on the Difference Between Taking Pictures and Making Photographs

The National Geographic photographer has been described as having the “mind of a scientist, the heart of a hunter, and the eyes of a poet”

A view from the cell wall of the Shanghai Natural History Museum, looking down on the north tectonic wall made of stone.

The New Shanghai Natural History Museum is Ancient, Modern and Uniquely Chinese

The nautilus-shaped building draws on Chinese traditions and 21st century design to house amazing specimens found nowhere else

Why Do Humans Have Chins?

The most distinctive human feature might be that bony protrusion that made Jay Leno famous

The oceans are teeming with tetrapods—“four-legged” birds, reptiles, mammals and amphibians—that have repeatedly transitioned from the land to the sea, adapting their legs into fins.

Take a Deep Dive Into The Reasons Land Animals Moved to the Seas

Synthesizing decades of discoveries, scientists have revealed links between changing environments and animal movements

A blue whale specimen, dating from 1936, from the Gulf of Mexico is part of a rare Smithsonian collection of whale fetuses.

New Research

Rare Collection of Whale Fetuses Reveals the Evolution of Cetacean Hearing

Smithsonian researchers offer up an unprecedented glimpse at the development of the “acoustic funnel,” an ear area found exclusively in whales

None

Ask Smithsonian: What’s the Deepest Hole Ever Dug?

The answer to the question, says a Smithsonian researcher, is more about why we dig, than how low you can go

Cattleya aurantiaca

Orchidelirium, an Obsession with Orchids, Has Lasted for Centuries

The once-elusive flower’s striking beauty has inspired collectors and scientists to make it more accessible

The chart is less a literal representation of the sea, but more an abstract illustration of the ways that ocean swells interact with land.

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

How Sticks and Shell Charts Became a Sophisticated System for Navigation

Sailors navigating with sextant, compass and maps found in the Marshall Islands that curved sticks and cowry shells were far more sophisticated

“Hatcher,” a large Triceratops, greets visitors exploring the National Museum of Natural History’s new exhibition, “The Last American Dinosaurs: Discovering a Lost World.”

What Can the Dinosaurs’ Final Years Tell Us About the Biodiversity Crisis Today?

Failed ecosystems led to the demise of the dinosaurs. Today, plant and animal species are disappearing at exponential rates.

Paleontologist Jack Horner served as scientific adviser on all of the films and is believed to have inspired the character of Dr. Alan Grant. Here, Horner in 1998.

The Scientist Behind “Jurassic World”, Jack Horner, Breaks Down the Movie’s Thrilling Trailer

We spoke with the paleontologist, who was an adviser on the Jurassic Park movies, about the science behind the franchise

Ten-year-old Noah Cordle visited the National Museum of Natural History on November 3 to donate a Clovis point he found in New Jersey. He and his parents (right) met with the museum's Dennis Stanford (left).

This Fifth Grader Found a 14,000-Year-Old Clovis Point, Likely Unearthed From Hurricane Sandy

Noah Cordle was boogie boarding in New Jersey when he came upon an ancient hunting tool

It took scientists 150 years to finally complete the fossil of Basilosaurus, an early whale. But even then, no one could agree on a name: it was first called Basilosaurus, or "king lizard," then later Hydrarchos, or "giant sea serpent." Its bones were seen as having been part of a long-extinct flightless giant bird. Today the complete fossil that we know to be the intermediary between older land mammals and modern limbless whales is hanging in the Ocean Hall in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

A History of Life In 10 Fossils

From their new book A History of Life in 100 Fossils, Paul Taylor and Aaron O’Dea share the story of 10 incredible fossils

Our fundamentally human social, ecological, and behavioral adaptations have, over time, ratcheted up our adaptability.

Anthropocene

The Moral Dilemma We Face in the Age of Humans

Humans are proficient problem solvers—but so far that trait has come at a cost. Can our species remain resilient without destroying the world?

Sealskin clothing, shown here on Aaju Peter, is waterproof, durable, and warm.

To Survive Climate Change, We Should Be More Like the Eskimos

Arctic Studies Center director Bill Fitzhugh says that studying northern cultures can help people adapt to climate change

#AskaCurator Day brings the museum to you, so get your questions ready!

Get Your Burning Questions Answered, It’s #AskaCurator Day

More than 700 museums, galleries, theatres, and more across the globe are taking to Twitter to answer your queries about, well, anything

Photos of two queen ants (left, the host species Mycocepurus goeldii and right, the parasitic species Mycocepurus castrator) shown side-by-side represent what may be an example of sympatric speciation—when a new species develops in the same geographic area with its sister species, but reproduces on its own.

This Ant Species May Support a Controversial Theory on Evolution

New research suggests that species don’t have to be geographically separated in order to evolve

An olinguito in Tandayapa, Ecuador

One Year After Discovery, Crowdsourcing the Olinguito

A year ago, researchers discovered a rare new species. That was just the beginning

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