Research & Collections

Research and Collections

Photograph of Butterfly specimens in the NHM collection

Our Collections

NHM has, wait for it, 35 million real objects and artifacts. Explore them online!

Our Research

There are dozens of scientists and historians on staff, protecting our records of the planet, and making new discoveries all the time.

What our experts are up to

austin hendy looking at specimens in collections research and collections

Recent highlights

Illustration of a long-legged crocodile-looking reptile looks at a mammal carcass on an ancient tropical islands

How Ancient Crocodile-Like Predators Ruled the Islands of the Caribbean

NHM's scientist discovers that sebicids, ancient land-dwelling crocodile-like beasts, reigned over the West Indies as apex predators after vanishing from South America

A skeletal looking Vinciguerria mabahiss under a microscope and black background

The Lights Below

A new study shines a light on the mechanics of bioluminescence in the rare fish Vinciguerria mabahiss and we explore some of the other fish lighting up the deep

A male house finch with a little red plumage around its beak and breast alongside otherwise gray feathers being held still by a person's hand

Bird banding, Wildfire Smoke, and the Nature Gardens

Researchers band birds and collect feathers in the Nature Gardens to study the impacts of wildfire smoke on birds.

Bat Specimens from the Mammalogy Collection laid back to back with their specimen tags visible

Digitized Mammals

How the new digitization project Ranges is unlocking the potential of NHM's Mammalogy Collection

A paleoart rendition of Eupachydiscus sp. by Cullen Townsend.

Collections Staff Help Ammonites Come Out of Their Shells

Uncovering how digitization and collections management made a groundbreaking extinction study come to life

Sam the Eagle Olympic Pin Collector Patch

The Olympics in Los Angeles: Back to the Future

Los Angeles first hosted the 1932 Summer Games for the Xth Olympiad. The Museum, then called the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science and Art, provided the venue for the Olympic Art Exhibition.