Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

08/27/2026

Explore the Natural History Museum like never before through , an illuminated museum experience featuring artwork by Maggie West.

Wander through the Museum’s halls and gardens, where glowing nature-inspired installations, cinematic projections, and enchanting encounters bring our diverse collections and the natural world to life.

Member tickets now on sale for select dates beginning November 12! General tickets on sale Tuesday, September 1: https://nhm.org/nighttales

08/26/2026

For centuries, birds have taken flight through myths and folklore. What's your favorite bird legend?

📍 Ralph W. Schreiber Hall of Birds, Level 2

08/25/2026

It’s hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world, and Dolly Parton sure was proof!

In 1978, the Goldberger Doll Mfg. Company released the first commercially manufactured celebrity doll in the icon’s appearance, one of which made its way into the NHM Collections pictured here.

Although the doll is a highly sought-after collectible, it speaks to Dolly’s business acumen, longevity, and diversity of her career—Dolly was famous enough 50 years ago to have her own doll, and she is just as famous, if not more so, today, nearly 50 years later.

From here to the moon and back, Dolly Parton. 🖤

08/24/2026

This holiday season, step out of the ordinary and into the extraordinary with , an illuminated Natural History Museum experience featuring artwork by Maggie West.

Wander through the Museum’s halls and gardens, where glowing nature-inspired installations, cinematic projections, and enchanting encounters bring our diverse collections and the natural world to life.

Select dates beginning November 12. Member tickets on sale August 27. General tickets on sale September 1.

NightTales is a joint venture between and produced by BeSixth and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Thanks to our media sponsors KCRW and LAist.

https://nhm.org/nighttales

08/23/2026

👀 Meet the "doomsday fish".

𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘯𝘦, better known as the oarfish, is a deep-sea giant that's rarely spotted near the surface. Living at depths of up to 3,000 feet, these elusive fish are known for floating vertically through the water in a unique heads-up position.

08/22/2026

🦖 We’re just one week away from this year’s ! Sunday, August 30, join us for a 𝙍𝘼𝙒𝙍-ing good time celebrating all things dinosaur, only at NHM!

Get tickets and see full event details: https://go.nhm.org/dino-fest

08/21/2026

🦖🦣 TONIGHT, an epic battle to crown the toughest champions of the dino and Ice Age eras officially begins with “Prehistoric Fight Night” at the NHM Commons Theater!

5:30pm: Doors, NHM Commons activities
7pm: Ice Age Brawl begins
7:50pm: Intermission
8pm: Battle of the Dinosaurs begins
9pm: Book signing and Meet & Greet with Rextooth Studios' Ted Rechlin

See you soon, ticketholders!

***EVENT IS SOLD OUT***

Join Rextooth Studios’ Ted Rechlin, award-winning graphic-novelist, animator, film-maker and science communicator, as he goes head to head with museum experts to battle it out and crown the toughest champions of each prehistoric era.

08/20/2026

How much variation can exist within a single species?

Photographed by Craig Cutler, these 𝘗𝘰𝘭𝘺𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢 shells all came from the same region, yet their striking colors and patterns vary widely. Their beauty has made them highly sought after by collectors, contributing to their declining populations.

At NHM, these rare shells are carefully preserved and studied in our Collections, helping researchers learn more about their diversity for years to come.

📍 Collective Knowledge from Our Changing World, NHM Commons

08/18/2026

"I think a lot of the reason why they’re so clumsy is because they’re so large and they’re flying with these relatively small wings, so it’s pretty hard for them to kind of control that flight trajectory and avoid bumping into you." — Megan Barkdull, Assistant Curator of Entomology

Big, green and notoriously bad at flying, figeater beetles are taking over Los Angeles this month. Here’s why the clumsy insects are thriving.

08/14/2026

Found in Late Cretaceous deposits of southeastern Brazil, the newly described 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘮 is one of the best-preserved and earliest-evolving snakes discovered, and may have helped uncoil the mysterious evolutionary origins of snakes: https://go.nhm.org/dino-age-snake

🎨 Gabriel Ugueto