Story Topics | Natural History Museum

The lower jaw of a dire wolf from La Brea Tar PIts resting on a piece of paper with the words "Last known real dirw wolf in the world!!" Aenocyon dirus lower jaw 13,082 years old' written on it

Dire Wolves: Sorry, They’re Totally Still Extinct

NHM and Tar Pits experts weigh in on why dire wolves have not, in fact, been successfully cloned, and the surprising perils of de-extinction

Science of SpongeBob: Micro Plastics, Major Problem

Pollution like microplastics is a major problem for our real-life sea creatures behind Bikini Bottom. Find out how you can help with fish expert Dr. Bill Ludt, NHM’s Curator of Ichthyology, and Rory Hu, Nick News Correspondent. Original video from 2023

Woman smiling on the right side of the image, Gary the snail on the right giving a slimy green thumbs up above logos reading 'Our World' and 'Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County'

Science of SpongeBob: Shell Yeah, It's Earth Month!

Gary the Snail has a posse! Discover just how many mollusks are sliming it up out there and what the shell is going on with NHM’s Curator of Malacology Dr. Jann Vendetti. Original video from 2023

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

Research and Collections

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.

A man shows a wolf skull to another man with a beard and a woman

NHM's Mammalogy Collection with NATGEO's Ronan Donovan & Dr. Xiaoming Wang

NHM's Vertebrate Paleontology Curator tours the photographer behind the Wolves exhibition through our collections

Watch Video

Silhouette of two wolves howling at sunset

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Wolves Stalking the Collections

best_slug_photo snailblitz 2020 banana slug on the ground

Congratulations, Banana Slugs!

California finally has a state slug, just in time for Snail Search 2025

Wildfire Smoke in Bird Feathers

NHM researchers look at dirty feathers to understand the effects of wildfire smoke on birds

Solving a Juniper Seed Mystery at La Brea Tar Pits

How identifying a mysterious fossil seed reveals Ice Age climate change

A paleoart rendition of Eupachydiscus sp. by Cullen Townsend.

Research and Collections

Collections Staff Help Ammonites Come Out of Their Shells

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