Research & Collections

NHM, including the Spider Pavilion and Nature Gardens, is closed until further notice. View our COVID-19 Safety Guidelines for more information.

Research and Collections

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

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

Research and Collections

The history and value of North America’s longest running community science project: the Christmas Bird Count

With the discovery of the oldest tusked walrus yet, NHM scientists are getting to the root of the walrus’ long tooth.

Look out! Killfish coming through

A different Shoshone, a different sucker: Catostomus columbianus, the bridgelip sucker

Explore the biodiversity of freshwater fishes across the U.S.

A limited series on some of the world's third gender Indigenous people

Our collections operations are governed by our institutional collections policies.

To request a loan or plan a visit to the collections, please contact the department that holds the materials you’re interested in using.

Our Research Departments

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