Please note that on Sunday, October 20, NHM will close to the public at 2 pm, for the 16th Annual Haunted Museum event. We apologize for any inconvenience.

snake live animals herpetology

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Reptiles

Exhibitions

Girl looks at coyote display

Live animals and hands-on interactives show you L.A.’s wild side.

Events

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Sat

14

Mar

stilt walker at nature fest

L.A. Nature Fest

9:30 am

L.A. Nature Fest is a two-day festival that celebrates L.A.'s wild side!

Sun

15

Mar

stilt walker at nature fest

L.A. Nature Fest

9:30 am

L.A. Nature Fest is a two-day festival that celebrates L.A.'s wild side!

Stories

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Alligator lizard courtship

Studying Lizard Love Through Citizen Science

Because this region is so big and so much of it is private property, we enlist people (aka community scientists) all across the region to help us study the local biodiversity.

A pair of southern alligator lizards in a bite hold and potentially mating

They're Lovers, not Cannibals!

Our wet winter across the western U.S. is likely to make for an excellent spring mating season for alligator lizards, and we need your help to study their mating activity.

A pair of Southern Alligator Lizards in a mating hold

We Want Your Photos of Alligator Lizard Sex

Valentine’s Day is our annual reminder that we are entering alligator lizard mating season.

Three Southern Alligator Lizards in a Pasadena apartment complex

Dear Los Angeles: We Need Your Photos of Alligator Lizard Sex!

Valentine’s Day is our annual reminder that we are entering alligator lizard mating season.

Kathy and John Dean in backyard

Valley Bugs and City Lizards

From the San Gabriel Mountains to the beaches, L.A. is home to plants and animals, some of which are found nowhere else on Earth.

lizard biting another lizard

Lizard Love Bites

Have you recently seen lizards in L.A. that appear to be biting each other, or maybe they are trying to eat each other?

Discover more

snake live animals herpetology

The Museum's collection of amphibians and reptiles contains approximately 190,000 catalogued specimens from around the globe.

kid with phone at a unrc event

Community Science

Community science (sometimes called citizen science) mobilizes volunteers to work alongside scientists to help answer questions about the world.

GeckoWatch is a community science project to map the fine-scale distribution of nonnative geckos in the United States.