Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

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09/04/2026

This giant kelp specimen was collected by Sylvia Earle off the coast of California in 1980. Kelp forests are one of the most productive ecosystems in the ocean, providing habitat for fish and shellfish, reducing wave energy that causes coastline erosion and storing carbon. Hear more from Sylvia.

During his childhood in Iowa, Jonathan Chen became interested in the state’s rich assemblage of ancient shells, corals a...
09/02/2026

During his childhood in Iowa, Jonathan Chen became interested in the state’s rich assemblage of ancient shells, corals and other invertebrate fossils. He was fascinated that these fossils preserved detailed clues to what Earth’s climate was like millions of years ago.

In 2024, as an undergraduate intern at the museum, Chen studied floating foraminifera, microscopic, shell-building organisms that experienced a major extinction around 113 million years ago.

Today, he is the lead author on a recently published paper that identifies the 'smoking gun' behind this sudden die-off.

Click the link to read more: https://s.si.edu/4x0ibYO

09/01/2026

In just one hundred years, passenger pigeons went from billions to zero. Their flocks once spread across the deciduous forests of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Overhunting and deforestation throughout the nineteenth century did what no natural predator could, and by the 1890s, only a few birds remained. The Cincinnati Zoo tried to breed captive pairs but to no avail. The last known individual, Martha, died 112 years ago today on September 1, 1914, and was shipped to the Smithsonian for preservation. Martha is one of the museum’s most precious specimens, an ambassador urging us to do more to prevent the extinction of other organisms. Hear more from Chris Milensky, the Collections Manager in the museum's Division of Birds.

Powered flight like that of birds is evolutionarily rare, having only evolved independently three times in vertebrate an...
08/31/2026

Powered flight like that of birds is evolutionarily rare, having only evolved independently three times in vertebrate animals.

Today’s birds are descended from dinosaurs; specifically, a group of carnivorous dinosaurs called theropods. But there are still gaps in our understanding of how exactly birds first evolved, including when and how they first began to fly.

Klara Widrig, a postdoctoral research fellow at the museum, is on the case to determine when this fateful first flight occurred. Click the link to read more: https://s.si.edu/4gEasJU

Though today its winters are cold and snowy, millions of years ago Wyoming had a subtropical climate with warm temperatu...
08/28/2026

Though today its winters are cold and snowy, millions of years ago Wyoming had a subtropical climate with warm temperatures and large lakes that were perfect for crocodiles. Wyoming's Bridger Formation has plenty of fossil crocodilian bones but very few fossil croc eggshells. Eggs rarely fossilize because of their extremely thin shells. This one is only 0.03 inches (0.7mm) thick. Microscopic structures in this eggshell confirm it was laid by a crocodilian, but it never hatched. Instead, mineral-rich water seeped into the egg and deposited sediment. Later, silica crystals formed, creating a sparkling quartz geode.

A slab of ancient amphibian fossils. A glittering gemstone rarer than gold. A baby bison standing on a makeshift floor c...
08/27/2026

A slab of ancient amphibian fossils. A glittering gemstone rarer than gold. A baby bison standing on a makeshift floor covered in printer paper. How do you photograph more than 600 objects like these in less than a year?

For the museum’s photography team, the answer involved months of coordination, thousands of image files, countless lighting tests and a willingness to solve some unusual problems along the way. Click the link to take a behind-the-scenes look at how the museum’s photographers brought a new exhibit into focus: https://s.si.edu/4y9Uf6y

Known as siapo in American Samoa and kapa in Hawai‘i, Pacific Island bark cloth has always been made to be used. Traditi...
08/25/2026

Known as siapo in American Samoa and kapa in Hawai‘i, Pacific Island bark cloth has always been made to be used. Traditionally, it could be found in ceremonial and everyday dress, uniforms, shrouds, and room dividers. Both the historic rectangular cloth and the contemporary circular cloth were painted freehand in the siapo mamanu tradition, featuring traditional motifs integral to Samoan culture. The techniques and patterns of siapo would have been lost without the commitment of artists keeping the practice alive. Today, siapo is worn in formal and casual clothing; decorates the home; and adorns purses, hats, and jewelry.

The historic siapo in Image 2 was acquired in 1890 in Pago Pago.

The contemporary siapo in Image 1 was made in 2014 by Su‘a Uilisone Fitiao.

As Dolly Parton sang in her 1974 hit, "Love is like a butterfly." 🦋 A philanthropist and country music superstar, Parton...
08/25/2026

As Dolly Parton sang in her 1974 hit, "Love is like a butterfly." 🦋

A philanthropist and country music superstar, Parton's love of butterflies and rhinestones was well-known throughout her life and career.

We mark her passing today by sharing a piece from the museum's Butterfly Collection. This collection, designed by Elvis Gray and Bernadine Johnson, was created to show off a variety of rare colored stones.

The wings of this benitoite butterfly hold 28.71 carats of benitoites with the color graduating from darker to lighter, displaying perhaps the most complete suite of blues that benitoites come in.

The state shell of South Carolina, the lettered olive is a predatory sea snail that lives along the Atlantic coast from ...
08/21/2026

The state shell of South Carolina, the lettered olive is a predatory sea snail that lives along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Florida and along the Gulf coast from Florida to Texas. A relatively fast mover along the sandy bottom of shallow and intertidal waters, this sea snail captures bivalves and small crustaceans and drags them under the sand’s surface to eat. Like many other sea snails, lettered olives create a whorled shell, usually about 2.25 inches (6 cm) long, to protect their soft bodies. The intricate markings resemble smudged handwriting or hieroglyphs, giving this species its name.

This specimen was collected in 1938 from Charleston County, South Carolina.

Planning to visit the museum this weekend? Here's what you should know.On Friday, August 21st, the museum will be open t...
08/20/2026

Planning to visit the museum this weekend? Here's what you should know.

On Friday, August 21st, the museum will be open to the public. Museum guests will be required to go through a Grand Prix security screening at one of three gates surrounding the National Mall.

On Saturday, August 22nd and Sunday, August 23rd, the museum will be accessible ONLY to Grand Prix passholders due to our location within the Stars General Access perimeter.

Find more information here: https://www.freedom250gp.com/

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10th St. & Constitution Avenue NW
Washington D.C., DC
20560

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Monday 10am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 10am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 10am - 5:30pm
Thursday 10am - 5:30pm
Friday 10am - 5:30pm
Saturday 10am - 5:30pm
Sunday 10am - 5:30pm

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