Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

05/29/2026

Florida’s state reptile, the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), is an iconic species found throughout the region’s wetlands. This juvenile skull offers a glimpse of an animal that can grow much larger as an adult. Appearing in the fossil record over 13 million years ago, American alligators now live in freshwater habitats throughout the southeast United States. As nocturnal carnivores, these reptiles glide through dark waters feeding on fish and other animals.

05/27/2026

Sea otters lived up and down the Pacific coast before the fur trade nearly wiped them out completely. This cranium specimen was collected in 1875, when Oregon’s sea otters were already extremely rare.

Expanding legal protections throughout the twentieth century, along with reintroduction efforts in the 1960s and 70s, allowed sea otter populations to recover and extend their range. However, they have not been successfully reintroduced in Oregon—yet.

Hear more from our Curator of North American Archaeology Torben Rick.

05/22/2026

Slow and steady, tortoises have plodded across America for millions of years. The oldest fossils of tortoises in the U.S. date back at least 45 million years. Discovered in Nebraska and described in 1851, Stylemys became the first fossil tortoise ever recorded in North America.

Like modern tortoises, it was a land-dwelling member of the family Testudinidae, with a high-domed shell adapted for life on land. This body plan has remained remarkably consistent over time, showing little change in millions of years. Today, the United States has just one native tortoise genus, Gopherus, made up of four species of gopher and desert tortoises.

This specimen was collected prior to 1899 from northwest Nebraska.

05/21/2026

Congratulations to our friends at Smithsonian Libraries and Archives on their new exhibition "Imagining Bison" now on display on the ground floor of the National Museum of Natural History. Come check it out!

05/18/2026

Vermont's state rock, marble is a metamorphic stone formed when intense heat and pressure recrystallize limestone—a sedimentary rock made from the bodies of tiny marine organisms.

Vermont’s quarries, which include the world’s largest underground marble quarry, supply stone for everything from kitchen countertops to national monuments like the Jefferson Memorial. This marble’s original limestone dated back to the Cambrian and Ordovician periods, about 538–443 million years ago, when Vermont was a shallow marine environment. The pink areas and white veins are calcite deposited by water that flowed through the rock.

This specimen was collected from Chittenden County, Vermont.

05/15/2026

This fossil sea star (Hudsonaster narrawayi) lived 457–449 million years ago, when warm, shallow seas covered much of what is now Minnesota. Today, they are no longer found in Minnesota, but instead in every ocean basin, from rocky tidepools to warm, sandy seabeds to frigid mud on the ocean floor.

Fossils like this one offer a glimpse into ancient marine ecosystems, revealing creatures that are both strange and familiar. They also illustrate how the continents and sea levels have changed over hundreds of millions of years, reflecting the constant motion and transformation of Earth’s surface.

05/14/2026

The only breeding hummingbird in eastern North America, spotting a ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) is a sure sign that spring is here. Typically weighing less than 5 grams, they feed primarily on nectar from flowers and play an important role as pollinators.

Males have eye-catching, iridescent red throats, and both males and females have a metallic green back.

05/13/2026

05/12/2026

The United States is home to the last remaining species in this ancient fish lineage: the American paddlefish.

Among the largest freshwater fishes in North America, the American paddlefish hasn’t changed much over its evolutionary history, forming a living bridge between the present and distant past. Its closest relatives are sturgeons, though they diverged 180–100 million years ago. Paddlefish once lived throughout the Great Lakes but are now only found in the Mississippi watershed. Paddlefish use their snouts to sense electrical currents, which helps them find microscopic food and avoid obstacles in murky waters.

This juvenile collected in 1992 from Boone County, Missouri.

05/09/2026

10 years ago today, the bison officially became the national mammal of the United States.

Here at the museum, 2026 has been the year of the bison. In March, three larger-than-life bronze bison, crafted by paleoartist Gary Staab, were installed outside the museum. Earlier this week, our newest exhibit "Bison: Standing Strong" opened. Including a full-sized bull bison specimen, the six-foot-wide skull of an ancient bison ancestor, and Native objects and stories shared in collaboration with community members, this exhibit explores the incredible journey of bison back from the brink of extinction.

Experience the deep history of America’s national mammal and discover the hopeful future being built for generations to come.