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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. 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.
Can you see where the Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus) gets its name? This colorful bird is native to south-eastern Australia where it lives in a variety of habitats such as forests, grasslands, and wetlands. It’s a social bird that forages for seeds and fruits in small flocks, frequently with other parrot species. Females can be distinguished from males by the color of the rump—males’ are red, while females’ are green!
Photo: JJ Harrison, CC-BY-SA-4.0
Exhibit of the Day: the lanternfishes in the Museum’s Hall of Ocean Life! Lanternfishes have patterns of light-emitting photophores that advertise their species and sex to potential mates. There are about 250 different species, and lanternfish comprise nearly two-thirds of all fish in the ocean’s twilight zone! Did you know? About 90 percent of all deep-sea animals living below 2,300 feet (700 meters) have the ability to generate their own light. Without this light, known as bioluminescence, these denizens of the dark would probably be unable to find food or mates.
Photo: R. Mickens/ © AMNH
Meet the Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula)! This “birb” has a wide range across parts of Europe and Asia, inhabiting a variety of forests and woodlands. Males are notable for their bold black, white, and pink plumage; females sport light-brown and grayish-pink feathers. Staying hidden in the treetop is where this bird prefers to be, while foraging for seeds, buds, and invertebrates.
Photo: Aleksandr Abrosimov, CC-BY-SA-4.0
We’re venturing to Canada’s Barren Lands for today’s Exhibit of the Day: the Wolverine diorama! This is prime wolverine country: cool, remote, and with room to roam. Wolverines are tireless nomads, traveling many miles a day and scaling sheer slopes to find food and mates. Their strength and ferocity is legendary, but wolverines are choosy about what they attack. Caribou are hunted only when floundering in deep snow—or are scavenged after a wolf kill.
Photo: D. Finnin/ © AMNH
Happy Fossil Friday! This skull belongs to Andrewsarchus mongoliensis and is the only specimen ever found of the species. It was discovered by Museum researchers in Mongolia in 1923. Andrewsarchus lived about 45 million years ago, and although only the skull of the animal has ever been found, researchers infer from the fossil’s size and evolutionary relationships that the animal was about 6 feet (1.8 meters) high at the shoulder and 12 feet (3.7 meters) long—a size that would make it one of the largest known meat-eating land mammals that ever lived.
Photo: R. Mickens/ © AMNH
What mammal has a snout, lays eggs, and is covered in spikes? The short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus)! The Australian native is a monotreme, like the platypus. While its spikes aren’t venomous, they still prove to be an effective defense mechanism. When threatened, the echidna curls up in hopes of deterring a foe from further pursuit. And its beak? It comes in handy when foraging for snacks, like termites; it’ll break open a termite mound with its beak and then use its sticky tongue to gobble up the bounty.
Photo: JKMelville, CC-BY-SA-3.0
Exhibit of the Day: the Diving for Pearls diorama in the Museum’s Hall of Ocean Life. It depicts an underwater scene at a Polynesian coral lagoon in the 1930s. Here, divers descend 25 feet (8 meters) to collect black-lipped pearl oysters (Pinctada margaritifera)—only about 1 in 10,000 produce a gem-quality pearl. Humans must work hard to force their buoyant bodies underwater: pearl divers traditionally carried heavy weights to help them sink as deep as 200 feet (60 meters). And rising too quickly can cause nitrogen gas bubbles to form in the tissues, a deadly condition known as decompression sickness or “the bends.” Several different species of pearl oysters have traditionally been harvested in various parts of the world. Today, pearl diving has ceased in most areas.
Photo: R. Mickens/ © AMNH
Every object humans create tells a story—about the maker, about the user, and about the place and time in which it was made. Join Museum archaeologists Anna Semon, Thomas Blaber, and Abigail Musch as they talk about their work in the North American Archaeology Lab and showcase artifacts from the collections. They will also share what objects reveal about us.
Submit your own photos of an object you hope to learn more about to [email protected] with a scale and a brief description of what the object is made from, and our scientists will do their best to answer your questions!
This Throwback Thursday, let’s rewind to 1952! In this image, the Glen Rose Trackway is being installed at the Museum. The trackway is a 107-million-year-old series of fossilized dinosaur footprints. Excavated from the bed of the Paluxy River in Texas in 1940, it gives a picture of dinosaurs that in some ways is more striking than that offered by fossils. The smaller prints are from a theropod, a dinosaur that walked on two hind feet. The larger ones were probably left by a plant-eating sauropod, such as Apatosaurus—and they measure 3 feet in length! You can still spot the Glen Rose Trackway in the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs.
Photo: Image no. 132245 / ©AMNH Library
Exhibit of the Day: Scales of the Universe! Displayed along the 400-foot-long walkway that hugs the glass curtain wall on the second level of the Rose Center for Earth and Space, the Scales of the Universe vividly illustrates the vast range of sizes in the universe, from subatomic particles and objects on the human scale to the largest objects in the observable cosmos. The exhibit features realistically rendered planets, including a 9-foot-diameter model of Jupiter and Saturn with rings 17 feet in diameter, that hang from the ceiling. The 87-foot-diameter Hayden Sphere in the middle serves as the central reference for illustrating the relative sizes of galaxies, stars, planets, cells, and atoms. For example, if the sphere represents the Milky Way galaxy, a typical star cluster within it is the size of a baseball!
Photo: D. FInnin/© AMNH
Watch the SpaceX Crew Dragon launch live from NASA's Kennedy Space Center with commentary from Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson, Museum astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, and other guests, as they discuss the future for human missions to space.
Have a question to ask our presenters?
Send your queries in advance to [email protected].
Join Museum Curator Ruth Angus as she examines the awe-inspiring leap from imagination to scientific achievement in space exploration. From novelist Jules Verne to astronaut Neil Armstrong, learn about how some of the most creative minds spurred unique scientific accomplishments, including human missions to space.
It’s time for Trilobite Tuesday! Even very early in their crawl through evolutionary time, trilobites found themselves in a daily battle for survival. More than half a billion years ago, the seas were already teeming with savage predators, many of whom seemed eager to treat trilobites—such as this Olenoides superbus from Utah—as little more than sushi-in-a-shell. The evidence of these undersea attacks are occasionally preserved in a dramatic fashion in the fossil record.
Join us for a pre-recorded virtual tour of the Hall of North American Birds! Get a glimpse at some of the hall’s 20+ dioramas, which feature habitats ranging from the Florida Everglades to New Jersey Palisades. Learn about the history and hear the conservation stories of native bird species like the Peregrine Falcon, the American Egret, and the extinct Passenger Pigeon.
Happy birthday to Sally Ride, the first American woman to go into space! Born on this day in 1951 in California, Ride earned physics degrees from Stanford University before becoming an astronaut. She made history on June 18, 1983, as a mission specialist on STS-7, where she used the space shuttle Challenger’s robotic arm to deploy satellites in space. After she left NASA, she continued to pave the way for women and girls in science, writing 5 children’s books and founding a science outreach company. In 2003, she was added to the Astronaut Hall of Fame, and in 2013 she was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was accepted by her life partner Tam O’Shaughnessy.
Photo: NASA
Built like a stork, but acts like a...vulture? Meet the Marabou Stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus), a large African wading bird! It’s nicknamed the “undertaker bird” because of its dark plumage and a tendency to dine on carrion alongside vultures. Its strong wedge-shaped bill is great for pulling flesh off carcasses, though the Marabou Stork also feeds on fish, small rodents, reptiles, and even food scraps from human settlements.
Photo: Lip Kee
Smile—it’s the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides)! You won’t find a dorsal fin on this aquatic mammal. True to its name, there’s just a ridge on its back. It inhabits waters off the coasts of Southeast Asia, living in both fresh and salt water. When hungry, it hunts for squid, crustaceans, and small fishes.
Photo: kenichi nobusue
Exhibit of the Day: the fisher and porcupine diorama from the Hall of North American Mammals! The setting: New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest. As dawn breaks, a fisher has discovered its favorite prey, a porcupine, descending a tree. Fishers have quick reflexes and a low-slung body—all the makings of a porcupine killer. First, a fisher will circle the animal, nimbly dodging lashes of the heavily quilled tail. Then it will dart in to bite the porcupine’s unquilled face, attacking repeatedly until subdued. Fishers can even climb after a porcupine in a tree and attack from above. This porcupine’s safest bet is to climb higher and keep its tail down.
Photo: © AMNH
Moth or bird? Moth! Meet the hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum). Notable for its size and appearance, this daytime moth is a strong flier and hovers over flowers while feeding on nectar—just like its namesake, the hummingbird. It even makes a humming sound while hovering! Observations of this insect have shown that it can learn colors and remember which flowers it previously pollinated. That lets this moth save energy and time by skipping a sampled flower.
Photo: Thomas Bresson
Exhibit of the Day: Stenopterygius quadriscissus from the Hall of Vertebrate Origins! Stenopterygius quadriscissus is an ichthyosaur, an extinct animal whose body shape closely resembled that of today's fast-swimming fishes such as tuna. This well-preserved specimen died and was buried while giving birth to live young—in fact, the Museum's specimen is world-famous because of the well-preserved outlines of the animal's skeletal structure and softer body parts.
Photo: © AMNH
Do you have “bedhead” that looks like the crest of a Brahminy Starling (Sturnia pagodarum) this morning? This starling has a wide range and might be spotted in India, Pakistan, or Thailand, where it inhabits a variety of forests and shrubland. It spends its time foraging for fruits and insects, often with a family group. It’s also known to imitate the sounds of other birds in its range. Males and females have a similar appearance. To tell the difference, look closely at the crest: males’ crests and hackles are a bit longer and fuller.
Photo: JJ Harrison, CC-BY-SA-3.0
About 75 million years ago, Khaan mckennai roamed the Gobi Desert in present-day Mongolia. It belonged to the group known as oviraptorids: fairly small, bird-like dinosaurs, most with toothless beaks, wishbones, and skulls filled with air pockets. Some have even been found sitting on eggs, in the brooding posture characteristic of modern birds. Making comparisons to living birds can help researchers draw new conclusions about extinct dinosaurs.
Illustration: Zhao Chuang, Courtesy of Peking Natural Science Organization
What parrot has green plumage, lives in the mountains, and is native to New Zealand? The Kea (Nestor notabilis)! This alpine parrot inhabits New Zealand’s South Island and is known for its intelligence and inquisitive personality. An opportunistic eater, the Kea’s diet depends on whatever is available at the moment—from berries, seeds, and flowers in the summer to garbage and animal carcasses in the winter. This bird is infamous among the region’s farmers, as it’s been known to attack sheep.
Photo: Bernard Spragg, NZ
Exhibit of the Day: the spotted skunk and ringtail diorama from the Hall of North American Mammals! This scene takes place in Shiprock, New Mexico and features a spotted skunk doing a handstand. What for? It’s a warning to discourage the two curious ringtails from getting any closer. If this pose doesn’t work, the skunk will release jets of foul-smelling musk from glands under its tail. But ringtails also combine chemistry with defensive body language. Here, one ringtail has made its tail fur stand upright, creating the illusion of larger size. If the standoff escalates, the ringtail might curve its tail over its head, and—as a last resort—emit its own smelly secretion.
Photo: D. Finnin/© AMNH
What makes the manchineel (Hippomane mancinella) one of the most dangerous trees in the world? Pretty much everything about it. From its bark to its leaves to its fruit, each part of the tree is poisonous. Its sap can cause temporary blindness, and even raindrops dripping from its leaves can blister skin—so standing under this tree during a rain shower is a bad idea! And if consumed, the tree’s apple-like fruit can cause the throat to swell up. A poison arrow tipped with sap from this tree is what led to conquistador Juan Ponce de León’s death. But while the manchineel’s fruit and sap is toxic to many organisms, iguanas sleep in its branches completely unaffected. These lizards even eat the fruit—often dropping the seeds at some distance, which helps the trees disperse.
Photo: Marianne Serra
Exhibit of the Day: the coelacanth from the Hall of Vertebrate Origins! Coelacanths were thought to have disappeared from the fossil record about 70 million years ago, but in 1938 a fisherman caught a living coelacanth off the coast of South Africa. At least 200 more specimens have been found in the western Indian Ocean since then. Did you know? These ancient "fish" are actually more closely related to land animals. The specimen's paired fins are lobelike and have joined bones, like arms and legs.
Photo: D. Finnin/© AMNH
Watch the SpaceX Crew Dragon launch live from NASA's Kennedy Space Center with commentary from Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson, Museum astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, and other guests, as they discuss the future for human missions to space.
Have a question to ask our presenters?
Send your queries in advance to [email protected].
It’s time for Fossil Friday! Did you know that the Museum has the largest collection of fossil horse skeletons in the world? In the early 1900s, exhibits showed a classic, linear progression of evolution. Today, the display also offers a more current view of evolution with a complex, branching history. Cladistics, the grouping of organisms by shared, specialized characteristics, shows that some later horses, such as Calippus, are actually smaller than earlier ones. It also shows that other later horses, such as Neohipparion, still had three toes. All modern horses have one toe.
Photo: D. Finnin/© AMNH
Exhibit of the Day: the coyote diorama in the Hall of North American Mammals! This scene takes place in Yosemite Valley, California and depicts a coyote sending a yippy howl through the granite-flanked gap of the valley. The long-distance call, rare in mammals, wards off packs nearby. The second coyote may chime in to broadcast the number in its pack, but for now it is preoccupied with digging for a gopher or another burrower.
Photo: R. Mickens/© AMNH
Join Museum herpetologists Lauren Vonnahme and Arianna Kuhn, who will share some exciting facts about the snakes and frogs that live with them at home. Submit a photo of your favorite reptile or amphibian to have it identified by the scientists, and ask any questions you have about these fascinating critters.
Send a photo of a reptile or amphibian, your name, and location to [email protected] to participate.
Happy birthday to Mary Anning, the mother of paleontology! Born on this day in 1799, she hailed from Lyme Regis on the coast of Dorset, England, and grew up collecting fossils. At age 13, she unearthed a skeleton of a giant marine reptile, one of the first ichthyosaurs. In her late 20s, she discovered Dimorphodon, the first pterosaur found outside continental Europe, on the beach cliffs at Lyme Regis. At the time, headlines celebrated Mary and her “flying dragon.” Anning’s discovery proved that these flying reptiles were varied and had a wide range.
Photo: Library of Congress
Say “hi” to the Cuban Tody (Todus multicolor)! This small colorful “birb” inhabits a variety of Cuba’s forests and woodlands, where its green plumage may help camouflage it against lush foliage. Pairs build nests in hollow trees, or in underground embankments. If it’s the latter, the birds will carve out tunnels with twists and turns to throw off potential foes who enter. At the end of the tunnels are chambers—with a few eggs laid in each—that are sealed off with a homemade glue-like concoction that consists of feathers, algae, and grass.
Photo: Ian Morton
200 Central Park W
New York, NY
10024
Subway: Take the B (weekdays) or C train to 81st Street/Museum of Natural History.
For information on current exhibitions and upcoming events, visit http://www.amnh.org/calendar.
| Monday | 10:00 - 17:45 |
| Tuesday | 10:00 - 17:45 |
| Wednesday | 10:00 - 17:45 |
| Thursday | 10:00 - 17:45 |
| Friday | 10:00 - 17:45 |
| Saturday | 10:00 - 17:45 |
| Sunday | 10:00 - 17:45 |
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Watch the SpaceX Crew Dragon launch live from NASA's Kennedy Space Center with commentary from Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson, Museum astrophysicist Jackie Faherty, and other guests, as they discuss the future for human missions to space. Have a question to ask our presenters? Send your queries in advance to [email protected].
Join Museum Curator Ruth Angus as she examines the awe-inspiring leap from imagination to scientific achievement in space exploration. From novelist Jules Verne to astronaut Neil Armstrong, learn about how some of the most creative minds spurred unique scientific accomplishments, including human missions to space.
Join us for a pre-recorded tour in the Hall of Vertebrate Origins to explore ancient shark ancestors. Tour guide Christian Waters will be answering questions in the comments section!
Watch live as Museum Research Associate Mercer Brugler shows some captivating photos and footage from some of the further ocean depths known. Get to know the inhabitants of the dark regions of the sea and learn how scientists study these remote locations deep down. Submit a photo of your favorite ocean critter to have it identified, or ask any questions you have about the ocean and its depths! Send a photo of an ocean critter, your name, and location to [email protected] to participate.
Watch LIVE as entomologist Lou Sorkin and Museum Curator Jessica Ware share facts about insects and introduce you to a few special creepy crawly guests!
What can fragments from space reveal about the formation + evolution of the Sun and planets? Join us for a (pre-recorded) tour of the Hall of Meteorites with Museum guide Tom and explore essential questions about the origins of our solar system some 4.6 billion years ago!
Gather the whole family for a (pre-recorded) flight around the world to marvel at our planet’s natural wonders. Director of Astrovisualization Carter Emmart will be your guide. Museum astrophysicist Jackie Faherty will be answering all your questions *live* in the comments section!
In October 2019, Museum oceanographer Nathalie Goodkin and colleagues traveled to Tobago hoping to retrieve hundreds of years of data about ocean conditions and coral reef health by sampling the region’s giant corals.
Join us for a (pre-recorded) tour of the Museum’s Hall of North American Forests with guide Andrew Epstein. Fan favorites featured in this tour include the slice of giant sequoia and the giant mosquito model!
Butterflies and moths make up a large group of insects known as the Order Lepidoptera. Learn more about these magnificent critters in this (pre-recorded) virtual tour of The Butterfly Conservatory at the Museum!
Travel to the forests, sandspits, and marshes of Suquamish, Washington, with Museum conservators to learn about Native Northwest Coast basket weaving from master weaver Ed Carriere.
At home on Earth Day with the kiddos? Learn glacier physics through experimentation with Glacier Goo, a substance you can create at home! Join in by doing these experiments to better understand these rivers of ice. #EarthDayFromHome
Submit photos and questions to expert botanist Donald McClelland and learn from him about the plants that live with you and those visible from your window. Then, participate in a special workshop where you'll learn how to plant your own garden and create life right in your own kitchen! Send a photo of your plant, your name, and location to [email protected] to participate—or leave a comment below! #EarthDayFromHome
Do you know what the most abundant element in the universe is? Join us for a (pre-recorded) virtual tour of the Hall of the Universe with Museum with guide Michael to find out!
Come birdwatch with us during a (pre-recorded) video filmed with Bird Cams! Ask experts questions in the comments.
Come birdwatch with us during a (pre-recorded) video filmed with Bird Cams! Ask experts questions in the comments.
Join us for a (pre-recorded) tour of the Hall of Ocean Life with guide Patricia Saigo—and get a glimpse of our iconic blue whale!
Travel through the Milky Way galaxy and beyond as you #MuseumFromHome! Join a (pre-recorded) guided flight through the universe with the Museum’s director of astrovisualization Carter Emmart. He will be using the new interactive data visualization software OpenSpace to take you to the outer reaches of the Known Universe. 🚨Astrophysicist Jackie Faherty will be joining us LIVE in the *comments section.* She’ll answer all of your space questions! 🚨
Join us for today’s (pre-recorded) virtual tour of the Museum, and go on a journey through our Hall of African Mammals with tour guide Pat!
Get to know some of our earliest human relatives in today’s pre-recorded virtual tour. Assistant Curator of Biological Anthropology Ashley Hammond walks us through the Museum’s Hall of Human Origins.
How did the Earth form? What’s the difference between climate and weather? Join us and find out the answers to these questions in a pre-recorded virtual tour of the Museum’s Hall of Planet Earth with Museum tour guide Peter Dunne. 🌎
Are we alone in the universe? Are dinosaurs still alive today? Museum scientists Jackie Faherty and Aki Watanabe answer these questions and more in our Space vs. Dinos video watch party. This Friday, tune in for the chance to chat with them live and talk all things space and dinos!
Join us for a (pre-recorded) tour of our Hall of North American Mammals with Museum tour guide Pam! One of her favorite questions to ask visitors: in which member of the deer family are antlers present in both males and females? (Hint: there’s only one). Watch to find out! #MuseumFromHome
Museum curator and trilobite paleontologist Melanie Hopkins will be joining us in the comments to answer your trilobite questions!
Jellyfish and other soft-bodied marine animals present a unique challenge to researchers who study them: they’re often too delicate for tools used to handle more robust marine species. To address that problem, researchers from the Museum and colleagues at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering are piloting a softer approach to studying these animals in their natural habitats. Watch this video to find out how!
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.
Museu Americano de História Natural
200 Central Park WАмериканский музей естественной истории
200 Central Park WMuseo di storia naturale (New York)
Central Park West at 79th StreetCentro Rose para a Terra e o Espaço
200 Central Park WCalle 81–Museo de Historia Natural
1 W 81st StThe Discovery Room at the American Museum of
200 Central Park W
Hermitage Museum Foundation (USA)
57 W 57th St
South Street Seaport Museum de New-York
Quai 17 De L'East River
Alfie's History of New York City
171 E 81st St 6A
Musée d'histoire naturel de New york
10024 Etats-Unis
Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum
Washington Avenue & Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238
