American Museum of Natural History

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American Museum of Natural History The Museum showcases its amazing treasures in the exhibit halls, and behind the scenes more than 200 scientists are at work making new discoveries.

Since its founding in 1869, the American Museum of Natural History has collected more than 33 million specimens relating to the natural world and human cultures. Millions of people from around the world visit the Museum each year.

Did you know? Wombats (Vombatus ursinus) are so rotund that they can use their hindquarters to crush the skulls of foes....
31/05/2026

Did you know? Wombats (Vombatus ursinus) are so rotund that they can use their hindquarters to crush the skulls of foes.

This herbivorous marsupial inhabits southeastern Australia. It’s equipped with strong claws that are crucial for building its burrows. When it needs to defend itself from predators like the Tasmanian devil, it will run head-first into a burrow and leave its hindquarters sticking out as a shield. Why? Because its rear end is bone lined with cartilage and thick skin that’s hard for predators to claw, bite, or injure. There are even clues that wombats may use their hindquarters to crush the skulls of attackers! An unrelated, yet equally interesting fact: its p**p is cube-shaped.

Photo: Peter Crowcroft, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist

Here’s a gigantic African land snail (Lissachatina glutinosa) to brighten your day! 🐌Found in parts of eastern Africa in...
31/05/2026

Here’s a gigantic African land snail (Lissachatina glutinosa) to brighten your day! 🐌Found in parts of eastern Africa including Malawi and Tanzania, this jumbo gastropod can grow up to 5.9 in (15 cm)—making it one of the world’s largest snails! This critter inhabits forest edges as well as river and lake shores. It’s a member of the Achatinidae family, which includes a number of similarly sized snails, some of which have become invasive species outside of their natural ranges.

Photo: Kai Joaquin, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Think twice before you grab a branch: You might just end up with a spider in your hand! Members of the genus Dolophones,...
30/05/2026

Think twice before you grab a branch: You might just end up with a spider in your hand! Members of the genus Dolophones, wrap-around spiders are masters of camouflage. Growing about 0.4 in (1 cm) long, these small nocturnal arachnids cast their webs to hunt by night. During the day, they use their concave bodies to wrap around branches, “disappearing” from foes as they rest. There are 17 species, all of which inhabit Australia and other parts Oceania.

Photo: Gunter Maywald, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Happy Caturday? While it’s commonly called a “civet cat,” the Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga) is actually more closely ...
30/05/2026

Happy Caturday? While it’s commonly called a “civet cat,” the Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga) is actually more closely related to mongooses! This nocturnal omnivore can be found in Southeast Asia, where it lives in a variety of habitats, including forests and grasslands. During the day, this solitary critter tends to stay hidden. When night falls, the civet hunts for small mammals, birds, and snakes—it also occasionally snacks on fruits and eggs. It’s a member of the Viverridae family, which includes more than 30 species of civets, genets, linsangs, and binturongs across Southeast Asia and Africa.

Photo: James Eaton, CC0 1.0, iNaturalist

Heads up… it's Fossil Friday! In this archival image, Museum preparators work on a trio of Tyrannosaur skulls. 🦖With 4-f...
29/05/2026

Heads up… it's Fossil Friday! In this archival image, Museum preparators work on a trio of Tyrannosaur skulls. 🦖With 4-ft- (1.2-m-) long jaws and powerful bone-crushing teeth, T. rex was one of the largest and most fearsome carnivores of all time. In fact, this dinosaur could bite with about 7,800 pounds of force (34,500 N)—the equivalent to the weight of three cars! No living animal, and few extinct ones, could rival its bite.

Although Tyrannosaurus rex is one of the most renowned dinosaurs, few of the fossil specimens recovered by paleontologists are complete. The first partial T. rex skeleton was discovered by a curator from the Museum—the legendary Barnum Brown—and we have one of the few specimens of T. rex on public display! Fun fact: The Museum’s T. rex specimen, AMNH 5027, inspired the cover of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park.

Photo: Image no. 129039 / © AMNH Library

Feeling stressed? Play dead like the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). When under threat, the clever critter fall...
29/05/2026

Feeling stressed? Play dead like the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana). When under threat, the clever critter falls on its side, curls its body, and “plays dead.” The behavior—a sort of controlled fainting—may deter predators like the gray fox from turning it into a meal. It may even supplement the act with open-mouth drooling and an excretion of f***s! The act lasts as long as it needs to, with the marsupial lying “lifeless” from a few minutes to as much as a few hours.

Photo: Adrian Naveda, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Have you ever seen the Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus)? This master of disguise lives in parts of Central and South Ame...
28/05/2026

Have you ever seen the Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus)? This master of disguise lives in parts of Central and South America and roosts on high perches, motionless. It has large bright yellow eyes that you’d think would draw a predator’s attention, but the bird has a workaround: It can close its peepers while staying aware of its surroundings, thanks to slits in its eyelids! At dusk, the nocturnal critter begins to feast on large insects like moths.

Photo: William Stephens, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist

Why the blue tongue? For this reptile, it’s a form of self defense! Meet the blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides). Fo...
28/05/2026

Why the blue tongue? For this reptile, it’s a form of self defense! Meet the blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides). Found in Australia and New Guinea, this lizard can reach lengths of nearly 2 ft (61 cm). Its body is covered in overlapping scales, supported by bony plates called osteoderms, which protect it from predators. But when faced with persistent foes, the blue-tongued skink has another defense: It will open its mouth, hiss, and reveal a bold blue tongue—startling foes with a flash of vibrant color.

Photo: Doug Beckers, CC BY-SA 2.0, flickr

Meet the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus)! It’s one of the smallest primates alive today, with a body size of about...
27/05/2026

Meet the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus)! It’s one of the smallest primates alive today, with a body size of about 5 in (12.7 cm) long and an average weight of 2 oz (56.7 g). This critter is a member of the ‎Microcebus genus, which consists of more than 20 other miniature-sized mouse lemur species! The arboreal animal lives in Madagascar and is nocturnal, spending most of its day resting in tree crevices and emerging at night to feed on plants, insects, or small invertebrates.

Photo: Alex Aitkenhead, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Whooo... are... youuu? 🐛🫖 Meet the to***co hornworm (Manduca sexta). This bulky critter specializes in eating the to***c...
27/05/2026

Whooo... are... youuu? 🐛🫖 Meet the to***co hornworm (Manduca sexta). This bulky critter specializes in eating the to***co plant, which is loaded with the natural insecticide known as ni****ne. So how does it manage? When it bites into a ni****ne-laced leaf, the action triggers an increase in the gut enzymes that break down ni****ne—allowing the caterpillar to continue feeding. “Ni****ne” may make you think only of to***co, but lots of plants contain varying amounts of this toxin. For instance, green peppers, green tomatoes, and even green potatoes contain ni****ne, though in concentrations too low to have any effect. Ni****ne affects the transmission of nerve impulses in both the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Photo: backyardfarmercp, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

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