Discoveries

Exhibitions

Deep Sea Challenger sub underwater and exploring

Pressure: James Cameron Into the Abyss

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

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Scanning Electron Microscope Lab

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

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Exhibition | NHM

Dinosaur Hall

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

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Exhibition | LBTP

Fossil Lab

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

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Exhibition | LBTP

3D Theater

Travel back in time with Titans of the Ice Age.

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Events

See all events

Museum Educator wearing a headset with a microphone and holding a skull.

LBTP

Tours & Activities

Discoveries From
the Tar Pits

Join a Museum Educator to hear about exciting discoveries from the Tar Pits! These 20-minute presentations highlight what we can learn at the Tar Pits, followed by a Q&A opportunity. Topics are always changing.

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weekly

10:30 am
1:00 pm
3:30 pm

Museum Educator leading visitors along a path with big cat paw prints

LBTP

Tours & Activities Kids & Family Adults

Excavator Tour

The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab where real paleontologists work, our historic excavation sites, and Project 23, where live excavations can be seen.

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daily

1:00 pm

LBTP

Tours & Activities

Discoveries From
the Tar Pits

Join a Museum Educator to hear about exciting discoveries from the Tar Pits! These 20-minute presentations highlight what we can learn at the Tar Pits, followed by a Q&A opportunity. Topics are always changing.

Learn more

weekly

3:30 pm

nhm

Tours & Activities

Scanning Electron Microscope Demonstration

Join an NHM scientist at the Scanning Electron Microscope Lab to learn how we use this important tool in discoveries about our natural world. Get an overview of this specialized equipment’s capabilities, see specimens in amazing detail, and have a chanc

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weekly

11:00 am

Tuesdays and Thursdays

LBTP

Tours & Activities Kids & Family Adults

Excavator Tour

The Excavator Tour explores the Fossil Lab where real paleontologists work, our historic excavation sites, and Project 23, where live excavations can be seen.

Learn more

daily

1:00 pm

Stories

two garden snails, one left-spiraling, one right-spiraling, held in a person's palm

The SNERCH for True Love: A Sinistral Snail Tale

This Snail Search season, be on the lookout for snails with counter-clockwise shells

A life-like painting of a large lizard lurking over a nest of dinosaur eggs with one already in its mouth

2025 Excavated: A Look Back at Some of the Biggest NHM Discoveries

From prehistoric giant lizards and ancient raccoons to newly discovered spiders and heroic extinct dugongs, NHMLAC researchers had a busy year describing new species. Meet some of the coolest creatures our researchers described this year, along with other inspiring discoveries.

An artistic reconstruction of a herd of ancient sea cows foraging on the seafloor.

For Ancient and Modern Seagrass Ecosystems, Having a (Sea)Cow Is Super Important

A new species of extinct dugong from the Persian Gulf highlights sea cows as underwater lawn mowers protecting biodiversity

Dr. Rodrigo Monjaraz Ruedas holding specimens in a jar and wearing a head lamp at night

Sumérgete en el mundo los Arácnidos con nuestro nuevo Curador de Entomología, el Dr. Rodrigo Monjaraz Ruedas

Conoce a uno de los dos nuevos curadores de Entomología del Museo de Historia Natural, NHM y explora con nosotros la biodiversidad de arácnidos secreta en las entrañas de la tierra.

Cave Dive Into Arachnids With Dr. Rodrigo Monjaraz-Ruedas, Our New Entomology Curator

Welcome one of NHM’s two new Entomology Curators and explore the secret biodiversity of arachnids deep below the Earth’s surface

Fossil tree limb with a fossil bird on top of it framed by demolished wall

Fossil Trees Help Grow Our Understanding of Ancient Climate

A new study reveals how ancient trees from La Brea Tar Pits helped warm the planet during the last ice age by coughing up CO2

Discover more

NHMLAC Discovery Talk: New Cloud Forest Species

Join Dr. Adam Clause, Postdoctoral Fellow, as he shares his extraordinary discovery of a new species of lizard living in the lush mountaintop forests of southern Mexico.

Video: Happy Hour with Dr. Aaron Celestian

Join Dr. Aaron Celestian for an exploration of his research suggesting that life can persist in the coldest environments and minerals are critical for life.

Video: Happy Hour with Dr. Greg Pauly

Dr. Greg Pauly, Curator of Herpetology and Co-Director of the UNRC, gives a peek at how NHMLAC's community science work is revolutionizing the detection and management of potential invasive species.

NHMLAC Discovery Talk with Dr. Adam Clause

Join Adam Clause, Herpetology and Urban Nature Research Center Postdoctoral Fellow, as he explores what he has been doing while sheltering-in-place, his research on how plastic litter might be threatening non-marine turtles, and how he worked with other departments in the museum to make his discoveries.

Dino Fest Resources Guide

News & Press

NHM’s Groundbreaking Snail Search Community Science Project (SNERCH) Returns From February 1 to March 31

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s snail and slug-focused community science project invites Southern Californians to join in the discovery with a photo contest, side quests, and a slimy good time

Press Release | NHM

Return of the Short (Tyrant) King: A New Paper by Dinosaur Institute Researcher Shows Nanotyrannus Was Not a Juvenile T. rex

Dinosaur Institute researcher shows throat bones accurately record maturity in dinosaurs, establishing Nanotyrannus was a fully grown, entirely distinct species from T. rex

The environment and the durability of their bones are the drivers behind which reptiles—and which parts of reptiles—end up shaping museum collections and our understanding of the fossil record.

Vibrant songbirds share a technique with painters: using white and black (feathers) to make their colors pop, NHM scientist finds

Discovery of Bolg amondol, a name inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe, reveals the complex evolutionary history of giant Gila Monster relatives