National Museum of Natural History

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The History of the World in Seven Snails

For National Snail Day, museum research fellow Melissa Betters explores the mollusks’ notable nature

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This Invasive Species Awareness Week, Learn How Museum Researchers Track the Rogue Wildlife Infiltrating American Ecosystems

From a beautiful fish that’s eating the Caribbean to a tiny bivalve with a huge impact, North America’s most notorious introduced species have reshaped the continent’s ecosystems

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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

Trees line a winding river, and the blue sky is reflected in the water

Building a Library of Life: How Smithsonian Collections Are Revolutionizing Ocean eDNA Research

Unlocking natural history collections is key to monitoring and protecting Earth’s environments using eDNA

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A Glowing Review: Meet the Museum Scientist Who Studies the Evolution of Bioluminescence in Corals

Deepwater coral specialist Andrea Quattrini’s new paper pins the origin of bioluminescence in corals to more than 500 million years ago

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Meet the Smithsonian Fellow Alumni Helping to Save the Planet

This Earth Day, learn about early-career researchers who are tackling issues from green technology to lichen biodiversity and coral rehabilitation

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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

Brown mussel shells sit in a white box with orange paper underneath.

Interested in Using Museum Collections to Better Understand Freshwater Mussels? There’s Now an App for That

A new online resource combines data from 45 different natural history collections to provide easy-to-use information on America’s threatened freshwater mussels

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Meet the Smithsonian Scientist Who Has Spent Decades Exploring Ocean Depths

Marine biologist Dr. Dave Pawson has embarked on over 100 dives to the ocean floor to unravel the mysteries of elusive invertebrates like sea cucumbers and brittle stars

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NMNH in Review: Top Discoveries by Museum Scientists in 2023

Indigenous woolly dogs, ground sloth pendants and more headline-grabbing findings by scientists at the National Museum of Natural History

A giant eye sits in a clear, glass container next to a smaller octopus and squid in glass containers on either side of the eye.

I Spy… A Giant Squid Eye

Gaze into the enormous eye of a giant squid behind the scenes in the museum’s Invertebrate Zoology collection.

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How 3D Worms Provide a Peek Into Historic Smithsonian Collection

Thanks to cutting-edge technology, Smithsonian scientists provide worldwide access to some of the museum's most delicate specimens

A large, brown tooth sits on top of a colorful map of the California coast

Summer Summary: A Mysterious Fossil Tooth, Metallic Planet and Marine Hitchhikers

Catch up on the museum discoveries you may have missed over the past few months

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Smithsonian Expedition Yields a New Species of Deep-Sea Coral

Collected from the deep waters off Puerto Rico, the species is a member of an enigmatic, and threatened, group of corals

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Starstruck: A Suite of Strange Sea Stars Discovered in the Smithsonian’s Collection

Museum researcher describes several new species from specimens collected decades ago from Antarctica

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Museum Collections Provide Some Muscle for Mussel Conservation

For Endangered Species Day, learn about the marvelous biology and murky future of freshwater mussels

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2022 in Review: The Year’s Top Discoveries by Museum Researchers

An Ichthyosaur graveyard, oyster middens and other headline-grabbing findings by scientists at the National Museum of Natural History

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To Understand How Animals See in the Abyss, Scientists Peer Through the Eyes of an Alien Amphipod

The team utilized computer models to understand how a four-eyed crustacean sees in the deep ocean’s twilight zone

A small, tan fox with large, pointed pink ears blends into its sand-colored enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

Five Wild Ways Animals Beat the Summer Heat

As we enter the dog days of August, learn how several animals stay cool

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