fossil preparators excavation pit 91 la brea tar pits

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Discoveries

Exhibitions

Pressure: James Cameron Into the Abyss

Explore the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER
Dec 12, 2022–Feb 20, 2023
 

Scanning Electron Microscope Lab

See how big discoveries can come from the tiniest things in the Gem and Mineral Hall.

Exhibition | NHM

Dinosaur Hall

Step into our award-winning Jane G. Pisano Dinosaur Hall, and enter the age of dinosaurs.

Exhibition | LBTP

Fossil Lab

What happens after the fossils at La Brea Tar Pits are excavated? This is where you find out.

Exhibition | LBTP

3D Theater

Travel back in time with Titans of the Ice Age.

Stories

News & Press

Scientists Discover There Are Way More Bugs in California Than You Thought

NHM scientists grow the number of insect species in California to more than 60,000 by DNA barcoding more than a million insect specimens as part of the California Insect Barcode Initiative

Natural History Museum Scientists Ready for Unlikely Visitors and Strange Creatures as Super El Niño Comes to Southern California

The strongest El Niño in more than a century is already bringing far-flung species into Southern California, with more expected in the coming months. Studying these specimens will help NHM researchers better understand the impacts of the tremendous climate event.

Press Release | LBTP

Paleontologists Reconstruct Forests of 56 Million Years Ago With Chilling Parallels for Our Warming Planet

Study finds PETM was marked by a widespread browning of Earth's landscapes—against a backdrop of elevated atmospheric CO₂, global warming, and reduced rainfall triggered by volcanically driven carbon release—and trees are at the root of these drastic changes.

Press Release | LBTP

A New Species of Ice Age Toad Discovered at La Brea Tar Pits: the spadefoot toad Spea labreae

Along with the first description of an extinct species of amphibian from Rancho La Brea, the paper also identifies the first record of the Mexican burrowing toad at the Tar Pits, 2,500 km north of its current distribution, shedding light on the impacts of climate change on species distributions past, present, and future.

New Species of Bizarre, Bipedal, Toothless Crocodile Relative from the Triassic Discovered

Unearthed in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, Labrujasuchus expectatus—the ‘Witch Croc’—highlights the weirdness of life during the dawn of the dinosaurs and the legacy and ongoing discoveries at an iconic site 20 years into excavation