Research & Collections

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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!

See what we've got

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

A pair of hands hold brown bits of fossil leaves.

Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum Carbon Release Study

A Tar Pits researcher reconstructed forests of 56 million years ago—with chilling parallels for our warming planet: climate change led to a widespread browning of Earth's landscapes—against a backdrop of elevated atmospheric CO₂, global warming, and reduced rainfall triggered by volcanically driven carbon release—and trees are at the root of these drastic changes.

Reconstruction of Spea labreae, a black toad with orange spots in front of a tar pit, flanked by three other toads

Meet Spea labreae, a New Species of Ice Age Toad Discovered at La Brea Tar Pits

The first new extinct toad species and the first description of the Mexican burrowing toad at the Tar Pits help us understand the impacts of climate change on species distributions, past, present, and future.

An elephant, tapir, saber-toothed cat, llama, and pecarry face off with a pair of giant sloths, a pair of armadillos, a big rodent, and a terror bird, the former on the North American side and the latter on the South America; a globe is in the top left

10-million-year-long Mammal Layover in Mexico Primed the Pump for the Great American Biotic Interchange Between North and South America

Published in the journal Science, a new study by NHM researchers shows that Mexico acted as a biodiversity "holding pen" for 10 million years ahead of the Great American Biotic Interchange that opened the floodgates between North and South America 2.8 million years ago.

A femur bone fossil sitting in asphalt, next to a half-buried sloth rib

The Beasts of Pampa La Brea, a Peruvian Tar Pit

Discover some of the Ice Age titans of Talara, the asphaltic site in Northwest Peru

Illustration of ancient birds and a burrowing snake in the foreground

Newly Described Snake from the Age of Dinosaurs, Tametara mirim, Reveals the Ancient Brains and Surprising Diversity of Snakes

Newly Described Snake from the Age of Dinosaurs, Tametara mirim, Reveals the Ancient Brains and Surprising Diversity of Snakes

Bobwhite, a brown quail-like bird with small black and white accents, on the ground

Scientists and Engineers Measure How Birds Send Heat into Space for the First Time

A new study from scientists at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, UCLA, Indiana University, and Cal State University, Dominguez Hills reveals the hidden reflectance of bird feathers through the prism of light, heat, and color

Our positions, policies, and processes

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.

Statement on Evolution
Statement on Climate Change
Recent NAGRPA Regulations on the Display of Native American Objects

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Research and Collections

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Recent highlights

Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum Carbon Release Study

Meet Spea labreae, a New Species of Ice Age Toad Discovered at La Brea Tar Pits

10-million-year-long Mammal Layover in Mexico Primed the Pump for the Great American Biotic Interchange Between North and South America

The Beasts of Pampa La Brea, a Peruvian Tar Pit

Newly Described Snake from the Age of Dinosaurs, Tametara mirim, Reveals the Ancient Brains and Surprising Diversity of Snakes

Scientists and Engineers Measure How Birds Send Heat into Space for the First Time

Our positions, policies, and processes

Our Research Departments

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