American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History The Museum showcases its amazing treasures in the exhibit halls, and behind the scenes more than 200 scientists are at work making new discoveries.

Since its founding in 1869, the American Museum of Natural History has collected more than 33 million specimens relating to the natural world and human cultures. Millions of people from around the world visit the Museum each year.

Meet one of the rarest birds in the world, the Araripe Manakin (Chiroxiphia bokermanni). Growing up to 5.7 in (14.5 cm) ...
01/24/2025

Meet one of the rarest birds in the world, the Araripe Manakin (Chiroxiphia bokermanni). Growing up to 5.7 in (14.5 cm) long, this species wasn't scientifically described until the late 1990s. The Araripe Manakin inhabits a specific type of forest found only at the base of the Araripe Plateau in Brazil. Today, it’s estimated that there are fewer than 1,000 individuals in the population. This critically endangered bird is threatened by human activity, including agriculture and habitat destruction.

Photo: Nereston (Nelinho) Camargo, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Grab your helmet and gear up for the weekend, because it’s Fossil Friday! Dinosaur lovers might recognize Pachycephalosa...
01/24/2025

Grab your helmet and gear up for the weekend, because it’s Fossil Friday! Dinosaur lovers might recognize Pachycephalosaurus, an herbivore that lived during the Cretaceous some 66 million years ago. It was once theorized that this critter, like modern bighorn sheep, used its distinctive skull as a battering ram. However, more recent studies have challenged this idea.

The horns of bighorn sheep create a broad, flat area on the front of the skull which is well-suited for head-to-head combat. But the rounded skull of Pachycephalosaurus would mean that two sparring individuals’ heads would have essentially glanced off each other. The animals might also have been injured if their heads twisted to the side upon impact. If Pachycephalosaurus did fight with its head, it probably knocked its opponents’ sides, like modern day bison. This dinosaur may have also used its unique dome to recognize members of the same species or compete for mates.

Photo: © AMNH

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is a large, gentle, slow-moving relative of manatees and, more distantly, of elephants. This h...
01/23/2025

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is a large, gentle, slow-moving relative of manatees and, more distantly, of elephants. This herbivore lives in warm waters in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where it spends much of its day grazing on sea grasses. In fact, a single dugong can eat as much as 88 lbs (40 kg) of seagrass a day! But as extreme weather events, like cyclones and floods, become more intense as a result of climate change, seagrass meadows can be damaged and destroyed—reducing an important food source for these vulnerable “sea cows.”

Photo: Jean-Paul Cassez, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

When most people think of penguins, they think of Antarctica, where these flightless seabirds waddle over the ice and di...
01/23/2025

When most people think of penguins, they think of Antarctica, where these flightless seabirds waddle over the ice and dive for fish and krill. But instead of huddling for warmth, the Galápagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) must battle the blazing heat of the sunbaked islands it calls home. This species is not only one of the smallest penguins on Earth—and the only one found near the equator—it’s also likely the only penguin that holds its wings outstretched over its webbed feet to prevent sunburn!

Photo: tcluderay, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

If you think those bangs need a trim, think again! Meet the highland cow or “coo” as this mammal is frequently called in...
01/22/2025

If you think those bangs need a trim, think again! Meet the highland cow or “coo” as this mammal is frequently called in its native country of Scotland. This breed of domestic cattle (Bos ta**us) is known for its long horns and shaggy coat, which help to combat harsh weather during rainy and cold winters. This bovine also holds the title for being the oldest registered breed of cattle and can munch on up to 150 lbs (68 kg) of grass each day!

Photo: Iain Farrell, CC BY-ND 2.0, flickr

Have you ever seen a pink grasshopper? Though the meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) is typically distinguished...
01/22/2025

Have you ever seen a pink grasshopper? Though the meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) is typically distinguished by its green and brown coloration, a genetic mutation called erythrism leaves some individuals looking pretty in pink! Erythrism is the overproduction of red pigment. While these rare insects are beautiful to look at, pink grasshoppers are hindered by their vivid coloring because it makes hiding from predators much more difficult.

Photo: Back from the Brink, CC BY-NC 2.0, flickr (Meadow grasshopper nymph pictured)

Not only is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) the world’s largest shark—it’s also the world’s largest fish! Growing up t...
01/21/2025

Not only is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) the world’s largest shark—it’s also the world’s largest fish! Growing up to 40 ft (12 m) long and weighing more than 40,000 lbs (18,144 kg), it’s often regarded as a gentle giant. Don’t be alarmed by its colossal mouth: This slow-moving species is a filter feeder, gulping down small marine animals like shrimp and plankton. It can be spotted in warm waters around the world, traveling thousands of miles each year to find food.

Did you know? Sharks and their relatives have been swimming in Earth’s oceans for about 450 million years. That's long before there were humans, dinosaurs, or even trees!

Photo: Muhammad syaran, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

It's time for Trilobite Tuesday! Due to its rarity and visual appeal, Tricrepicephalus ranks among the most recognizable...
01/21/2025

It's time for Trilobite Tuesday! Due to its rarity and visual appeal, Tricrepicephalus ranks among the most recognizable trilobites to emerge from the western United States. Growing up to 3 in (7.6 cm) in length, this Middle Cambrian species hails from the 500 million-year-old Weeks Formation of Utah. More than two dozen species of described trilobites are known from this site.

With its massive horns and beak-shaped mouth, Triceratops is one of the Museum’s most recognizable dinosaurs. The skull ...
01/20/2025

With its massive horns and beak-shaped mouth, Triceratops is one of the Museum’s most recognizable dinosaurs. The skull of this 65-million-year-old ceratopsian measures about 8 ft (2.4 m) long—almost a third of its body length. Yet it was much lighter than it looks. In its beak-shaped mouth, Triceratops had between 144 and 160 teeth, which it replaced completely between two and four times over its lifetime.

Photo: © AMNH

Behold the dazzling Long-tailed Broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae)! This colorful bird lives in Southeast Asia and is the...
01/19/2025

Behold the dazzling Long-tailed Broadbill (Psarisomus dalhousiae)! This colorful bird lives in Southeast Asia and is the only member of its genus. It inhabits a variety of forests across India, Thailand, and Vietnam, where it munches on insects. Its face and throat are covered in yellow plumage, while its body is green, and its tail is blue. The Long-tailed Broadbill is a gregarious critter and enjoys spending its time hanging out in the treetop in groups.

Photo: JJ Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

What’s the world’s smallest cephalopod? That would be the southern pygmy squid (Xipholeptos notoides). Growing only abou...
01/19/2025

What’s the world’s smallest cephalopod? That would be the southern pygmy squid (Xipholeptos notoides). Growing only about 0.9 in (2.5 cm) long, this diminutive critter can be found in the waters of the Southwestern Pacific near Australia. During the daylight, it clings to sea grass and stays out of sight. By night, it hunts for prey including small crustaceans like shrimp. Its lifespan is only about 150 days.

Photo: Daniel Kwok, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, flickr

Today’s Exhibit of the Day? The lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata). Jelly-ve it or not, this critter is one of the...
01/18/2025

Today’s Exhibit of the Day? The lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata). Jelly-ve it or not, this critter is one of the world’s longest animals. This jumbo-sized jelly trails a “mane” of more than 800 stinging tentacles that are covered in cells with venom that stun prey, including other jellyfish, small crustaceans, and zooplankton. Just how long is the lion’s mane jellyfish? Well, its tentacles can grow more than 100 feet (30 meters) long! In fact, the longest examples of this species—which inhabit the Arctic Ocean—are even longer than the longest known blue whale. Come see a life-size model of one at the Museum’s Hall of Biodiversity.

Photo: R. Mickens/ © AMNH

Have you ever seen the majestic markhor (Capra falconeri)? This striking goat lives in mountainous forests in Central an...
01/18/2025

Have you ever seen the majestic markhor (Capra falconeri)? This striking goat lives in mountainous forests in Central and South Asia. It’s the largest species of wild goat in the world. Its signature spiral horns can be found on both males and females: Males use them to attract attention during mating season. The markhor—preyed on by wolves, lynxes, and snow leopards—typically remains hyper-aware of its surroundings, leveraging its exceptional eyesight and keen sense of smell to continuously scan the area for foes.

Photo: Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

This Fossil Friday, we bring you the beloved Apatosaurus: a long-necked dinosaur that could reach an impressive size of ...
01/17/2025

This Fossil Friday, we bring you the beloved Apatosaurus: a long-necked dinosaur that could reach an impressive size of 73 ft (22 m) long! The Museum’s first Apatosaurus was discovered at Wyoming’s Bone Cabin Quarry in 1898. When it went on display in 1905, it was the first sauropod dinosaur ever mounted. It’s hard to believe, but this gigantic herbivore maintained its mind-boggling bulk on a diet of plants. A soup of microbes in its belly broke down otherwise hard-to-digest plants by fermentation. In fact, some birds, the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, also have fermentation chambers in their guts.

Photo: © AMNH

Research alert! A new study, led by scientists from the Museum and The City University of New York, on the eruption of t...
01/17/2025

Research alert! A new study, led by scientists from the Museum and The City University of New York, on the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in Spain’s Canary Islands suggests that on-the-ground volcanic ash studies could be used as a near-real-time monitoring and forecasting tool.

Cumbre Vieja had been dormant for 50 years when it started erupting in the fall of 2021. Samantha Tramontano, a Kathryn W. Davis Postdoctoral Fellow at the Museum and a faculty member in the Master of Arts in Teaching program, was a student at CUNY at the time and had the rare chance to implement a system to collect the volcanic ash produced by the eruption along with her advisor, CUNY’s Marc-Antoine Longpré. For three months in 2021, a team from the Museum, CUNY, and Spanish geologic agencies collected falling ash in buckets and carefully labeled the daily samples for future chemical analysis. The samples were sent back to the Museum for study with an electron microprobe.

The research team, which published their work in the journal Nature Geoscience last week, is the first to capture daily changes in melt chemistry at an active volcano. Read about their findings in our latest blog post:

New study based at Canary Islands volcano suggests that magma composition determines scale of volcanic tremors.

Meet the hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus)! This mammal has a wide range that spans northern Canada to parts of South Americ...
01/16/2025

Meet the hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus)! This mammal has a wide range that spans northern Canada to parts of South America, and even Hawaii. In fact, it’s the most widespread bat in the Americas, and a subspecies (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) is thought to be Hawaii’s only living native land mammal! Large moths make up the majority of its diet, along with beetles and grasshoppers.

Photo: Daniel Neal, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Need a night light? Try a mushroom! 🍄Fungi are one of the largest kingdoms of organisms, but of the nearly 100,000 docum...
01/15/2025

Need a night light? Try a mushroom! 🍄Fungi are one of the largest kingdoms of organisms, but of the nearly 100,000 documented species, only a fraction glow in the dark. Bioluminescence, a chemical reaction that produces light, is the reason these unique organisms can brighten the night. The main ingredients in this process are luciferin, luciferase, and oxygen, which react to produce a new molecule called oxyluciferin. Energy is also produced in the form of photons, or units of light!

Photo: discover_gondwana, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

It’s Wednesday, so hang in there like the bank vole (Myodes glareolus)! Though it resembles a mouse, this species is dis...
01/15/2025

It’s Wednesday, so hang in there like the bank vole (Myodes glareolus)! Though it resembles a mouse, this species is distinguished by a shorter tail and stockier build. Mostly herbivorous, it’s a proficient climber that uses acrobatic skill to reach seeds and fruits. Its diet also includes moss, fungi, and nuts. Weighing up to 1.27 oz (36 g), this diminutive critter can be found across much of Europe as well as parts of Asia.

Photo: Sue Cro, CC BY-NC 2.0, iNaturalist

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Since its founding in 1869, the American Museum of Natural History has collected more than 34 million specimens relating to the natural world and human cultures. The Museum showcases its amazing treasures in the exhibit halls, and behind the scenes more than 200 scientists are at work making new discoveries. Millions of people from around the world visit the Museum each year.