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

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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

Dino Fest 2023 art featuring Coelophysis

Dino Fest Resources Guide

NHMLAC Discovery Talk with Dr. Jorge Velez-Juarbe

Join Dr. Jorge Velez-Juarbe as he explores the migration of vertebrate fauna to the Caribbean Islands and the effects of climate change on his field work.

NHMLAC Discovery Talk with Shannen Robson

Join Dr. Shannen Robson, Collections Manager of Mammalogy, as she explores how digitizing initiatives are creating novel research areas for biological collections, reshaping the roles of museum collections managers, improving educational access, and creating new opportunities for collaboration.

Extended Specimen Lecture Series Videos

Forest Urban Live Invertebrates Collections Manager

NHMLAC Discovery Talk with Forest Urban

Join Forest Urban, Manager of Invertebrate Living Collections, as he goes behind-the-scenes of NHM’s Insectary, explores the new Bugtopia exhibit, and shares what he and his team has been up to during the museum's temporary closure.

News & Press

New Study by Scientists at La Brea Tar Pits Finds Extinction of Ice Age Mammals in Southern California Linked to Climate Change, Humans, and Fire

Diverse Fossils From Iconic Site Tell Story of how Saber-Toothed Cats, Dire Wolves, and Other Megafauna That Once Roamed the Los Angeles Basin Disappeared

The new species is one of the earliest ancestor of modern dolphins yet discovered

Three revamped cases display how the journey of fossils from the asphalt to the lab can lead to incredible new discoveries about our world

Over 66,000 community scientists from 482 cities around the world document more than 2,570 rare, endangered, or threatened species in a four-day community science effort