National Museum of Natural History

Two women stand in a field, holding bundles of grasses with a rainbow coloring the sky in the background.

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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After 50 Years, Scientists Still Love Lucy

Paleoanthropologists have learned a lot about Lucy, the world’s most famous hominin fossil, since she was discovered in 1974. And her fossils are still yielding new insights

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To Understand How Species Evolve, Scientists Flock to Where Charismatic Birds Intermingle

For decades, researchers have explored a region in Panama that serves as a “manakin melting pot”

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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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Meet the Scientist Decoding Human History in South America Through Giant Ground Sloth Fossils

Thaís Pansani examines the marks humans left on megafauna bones to determine when people arrived in South America and how they interacted with giant mammals

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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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Our Planet On the Big Screen: New Museum Exhibition Explores Ever-Changing Earth from Space and on the Ground

The Smithsonian partners with NASA to present the Earth Information Center, a larger-than-life display that visualizes interconnected changes on the planet

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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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Fetching Fossils and Unwrapping Mannequins: Here’s What Happens When a Museum Exhibition Closes

In the wrap-up of “Objects of Wonder,” hundreds of the museum’s most treasured specimens are returning to the collection

A brown and white quail stands in a grassy field in front of taller grasses behind it.

Across the Smithsonian, Researchers are Working Together to Save Virginia’s Birds

This National Virginia Day, learn how Smithsonian scientists are using historic collections and current conservation practices to bring back declining populations of grassland birds

Two men sit on a rock bed on top of a forested hill over looking a remote lake.

Searching for Earth's Oldest Rocks: Follow a Smithsonian Expedition to the Remote Northwest Territories

High in the Canadian wilderness, Smithsonian scientists search for ancient minerals that could explain the origins of the continents, oceans and life on Earth

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This Fall at the Museum: Fossils, Fossils and More Fossils!

There are also events about mushrooms, bats and much more at the National Museum of Natural History in September and October

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Check Out These Wondrous Objects on Display Before They Return to the Museum’s Collection

From whale earwax to a shimmering ammonite shell, the “Objects of Wonder” exhibition spotlights some of the museum’s most intriguing specimens

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Meet the Scientist Venturing to Remote Canada in Search of the Earth’s Oldest Rocks

Smithsonian researcher Wriju Chowdhury is part of an expedition searching for 4-billion-year-old crystals that could uncover the secrets behind Earth’s early history

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Inclusive Innovations: An Accessible Natural History Experience

To celebrate the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, discover four creative museum experiences that enhance accessibility for all visitors

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Through the Fossil Grapevine: Museum Scientist Helps Untangle How the Fruit Thrived in the Aftermath of Extinction

The batch of newly-described fossils includes a species named after Smithsonian botanist Jun Wen

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Tiny Tornado Chasers: Why Rare Songbirds Rely on Destructive Winds

A new Smithsonian paper posits that Swainson’s warblers have tornadoes to thank for ideal habitats

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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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