Harvard Museum of Natural History

09/02/2026

Caroline Fernald, Harvard Museums of Science & Culture Director, is a self-proclaimed Dolly Parton Super-Fan. Dolly was a powerful ally to the LGBTQ+ community. In her life and in her songwriting, she championed marriage equality, challenged discrimination among her peers, and supported trans rights. Parton wrote the song "Travelin’ Thru“ for Transamerica, the film about a transgender woman traveling across the country, and received an Academy Award nomination for best original song. 🏳️‍⚧️

This blue morpho butterfly 🦋 on view in the new exhibit Collecting Wonders is dual gender--it has two sets of DNA in one individual. The bright blue half has male traits, and the dark-edge half has female traits. This is called bilateral gynandromorphism: it affects one in about 10,000 butterflies. Growing up in Tennessee, Dolly loved chasing butterflies among the Great Smoky Mountains and appreciated the symbolism of their beauty and freedom, even incorporating butterfly-inspired designs into her Dollywood branding.

09/02/2026

Celebrate Puerto Rico’s rich culture and natural wonders at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. Bring the whole family to this FREE event—there’s something for everyone to enjoy!

🇵🇷 Jorge Arce & Humano deliver bomba and plena music to get you dancing.
🇵🇷 Expert carver Carlos Santiago introduces you to traditional carvings of saints.
🇵🇷 Test your skills preparing cassava and dive into the history of coffee production.
🇵🇷 Listen to coqui calls, and learn about the island’s native birds.
🇵🇷 Explore a variety of activities and make simple crafts to take home.
🇵🇷 Enjoy delicious Puerto Rican food (available for purchase).

Leer en Español: https://tinyurl.com/HMSCCelebremos

Limited free garage parking is available with registration; Cambridge street parking is free on Sundays. Presented in collaboration with the Puerto Rican Institute for Arts Puerto Rican Institute for Arts and Advocacy, Inc., the Mass Cultural Council, Ágora Cultural Architects, Cambridge Arts Cambridge Arts Council, and IBA - Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción.

08/28/2026

Romer Hall in the Harvard Museum of Natural History is home to the world’s only mounted Kronosaurus, a 42-foot-long prehistoric marine reptile, which was originally found somewhat by chance.

In 1931, graduate student William E. Schevill was touring Queensland after participating in a Museum of Comparative Zoology expedition. There he met Australian rancher R. W. H. Thomas, who showed William bones embedded in limestone on his grounds. The bones turned out to be the most complete skeleton of a Kronosaurus ever discovered! In 1858, the restored skeleton was unveiled in Romer Hall.

08/11/2026

The Great Mammal Hall, a two-story gallery, some 60 feet long by 40 feet wide, is the most dramatic gallery in the Harvard Museum of Natural History, with an arrangement of specimens that includes a full-sized giraffe, a bison, a narwhal, and three whale skeletons suspended from the rafters. Some creatures on display here, such as the Steller’s sea cow, have now become extinct.

On the balcony, visitors can find specimens from Harvard's extensive collection of birds from around the world and can closely examine the impressive toothed jaw of a s***m whale and the baleen of a right whale. Come visit 9am-5pm, 7 days a week; no reservations required!

Photo by Tony Rinaldo

08/10/2026

Fascinating research out of the Harvard Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Harvard Medical School explores how certain octopuses have an unusual adaptation in their ribosome, the cellular machinery that produces proteins. Read more:

Harvard biologists have discovered a mysterious distinction at the core of the octopus’ cellular biology: an adaptation in the protein-making machinery of their cells that helps ensure accuracy, perhaps an evolutionary byproduct of their acute sensory system.

08/05/2026

Happy Oyster Day! 🦪 Pearlfish hide inside oysters for protection. The pearlfish inside this oyster, on view in the new exhibition 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨, eventually died. Over time, the oyster covered the fish’s body with layers of nacreous mother-of-pearl from its inner shell, like a gruesome fish-shaped pearl. Visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History to see this wonder, and other "greatest hits" from the natural history collections! Open 9am-5pm ET.

Pearl oyster (Pinctada mazatlanica Hanley, 1856) with pearlfish (Carapus dubius), Malacology Collections, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard; Photo by Tony Rinaldo

07/31/2026

We are excited to announce that we are hiring a Senior Exhibition Designer. The person in this position would oversee all 3D and graphic exhibit design work for exhibits, set and manage priorities for exhibit design and conceptual development, and lead exhibit design projects from inception through completion. https://lnkd.in/guvgZQZX

Photo © Tony Rinaldo

07/24/2026

After 80 million years, a giant fossil jaw has quite a story to tell. Back in the age of the dinosaurs, Tylosaurus proriger was a fearsome predator — a bus-sized aquatic reptile with a crushing snout, daggerlike teeth, and knack for swallowing prey whole. How its bones wound up at Harvard is a tan...

07/23/2026

Recently, a meteor exploded off the coast of Cape Cod Bay, creating a sonic boom that rattled the public. This Coahuila Meteorite from the Mineral and Geological Museum at Harvard is the largest piece from a meteor shower that fell around Coahuila, Mexico, in 1837, weighing in at 700 pounds. It is an iron-nickel alloy that was formed in the early solar system, billions of years ago. In the new exhibition Collecting Wonders, visitors can touch a piece of outer space that's as old as the solar system itself!

07/17/2026

Happy Friday! This polar bear has been in the Museum of Comparative Zoology Mammalogy collection since at least 1878. The species faces threats from climate change, so older specimens like this one, on view in the new 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙏𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬’𝙨 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨, provide important information about the past.

DNA obtained from skin samples can inform us of population diversity, while stable isotopes from fur samples can inform us of ecological conditions during this animal’s life. In the new exhibit visitors can see other specimens ranging from microscopic to absolutely massive!

Polar bear (Ursus maritimus); MCZ:Mamm:5792