National Museum of Natural History

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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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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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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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How the Structure of a Mammoth Meteorite Reveals the Rough and Tumble Nature of the Asteroid Belt

The Old Woman Meteorite is still revealing insights into outer space decades after its discovery

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The ‘Ultimate Honor’: Why a Colorful Mineral Honors the Smithsonian‘s Namesake

Smithsonite honors the scientific legacy of mineralogist James Smithson

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Shrew Are You? Scientist Discovers Two New Species of Shrews in Museum’s Collection

Hailing from the mountains of Colombia, the new shrews fill in a geographical gap and are among a growing number of species discovered in collections

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Just Our Type: Museum's Dinosaur Skeleton Becomes the Scientific Standard for Its Species

In this month’s Specimen Spotlight, find out what makes the Smithsonian's Allosaurus specimen so special

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Late Smithsonian Botanist's Legacy Continues to Blossom

Museum plant specimen belongs to a new genus that honors the pioneering research of longtime curator Vicki Funk

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How A 190-Year-Old Shorebird Preserves Darwin’s Legacy

In honor of Charles Darwin’s 215th birthday, meet the only original Darwin specimen in North America

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How a Whale Skull at the Smithsonian Became a Beacon for Marine Mammal Conservation

Take a dive into the museum’s marine mammal collection and learn how a rare North American whale is racing against extinction

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What a Drawerful of Dung Reveals About the Lives of Ground Sloths

For International Sloth Day, learn about the scientific clues preserved in petrified poop

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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