American Museum of Natural History

It’s Trilobite Tuesday! Feast your eyes on this dolomitic Encrinurus, uncovered from the Silurian exposures of Illinois. Notice the stalked-eyes atop its cephalon? This morphologic trait may have allowed it to burrow into the sea floor and keep watch over its surrounding marine world.

Behold the pricklenape lizard! It was scientifically described in 2006. This species, and others in the genus Acanthosaura, are called mountain horned dragons or pricklenape agamas. They're named after their prickly-looking dorsal spines. Photo: Yuzefovich Alexander, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

A new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History combines art and science to explore the monarch butterfly’s 3,000-mile fall migration from North America to Mexico. Read more: http://specne.ws/QJc4hh 

Visit to the American Museum of Natural History

🧛 Meet the Dracula Parrot aka the Vulturine Parrot! Unlike vultures—or vampires—this species’ diet consists mostly of figs. As in vultures, scientists think its bald head might prevent bits from sticking to the bird's face when diving into a meal. Photo: Marc Thibault, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Huge thanks to the @amnh.org Science Research Mentoring Program students for their hard work this August! They learned about invasive mugwort and helped to protect native habitats. 🌿 Bonus: spotting a Monarch caterpillar on native milkweed! 🐛🧡 #BlackRockForest #AMNH #SRMP #Conservation

Ever seen a white Raven? This bird's striking pale plumage is the result of the genetic mutations leucism or albinism. White Ravens are rare. An estimated 1 in 30,000 individuals is born without this species’ signature black plumage. Photo: cedarleaf, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Happy birthday to Mae Jemison, born on this day in 1956! In 1992, she became the first woman of color to fly in space, as the science mission specialist on a joint U.S.-Japan mission aboard the space shuttle Endeavor. She led experiments on bone density loss in zero gravity. Photo: NASA

It’s Fossil Friday! This archival image, snapped in 1966, depicts Museum visitors gazing up at Gorgosaurus. This slender tyrannosaur was smaller than its gigantic cousin T. rex, reaching lengths of up to 30 ft (9 m) and weights of 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg).

Meet the long-tailed semi-slug. Unlike the shells of snails, semi-slugs’ shells are too small for the animals to retract their bodies into. This critter can be seen wrapping its tail—which measures 3x the length of its body—around itself like a cat. Photo: Albert Kang, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Boo! Behold the whitemargin stargazer. It inhabits parts of the Indo-Pacific. This ambush predator's upturned face allows it to spend much of its time burrowed beneath the sand—waiting patiently for passing prey like fish or crustaceans. Photo: Robin Gwen Agarwal, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Meet the Cape dune mole-rat, one of the world’s largest species of mole rat. Unlike its naked cousin, this species is solitary & territorial. Individuals can weigh ~4.4 lbs (2 kg) & reach lengths of 13.7 in (35 cm). Photo: ladybird59, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Have you ever seen a flapjack devilfish? Growing up to 1.5 in (3.8 cm) long, this tiny cephalopod isn’t a strong swimmer. Instead, it spends most of its time in pancakey flatness on the seafloor, where it hunts for worms & small invertebrates. Photo: Totti, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Hello, October! 🍁🍂 Fall into fall at the American Museum of Natural History. We’re open daily, 10 am–5:30 pm. Plan your visit: amnh.link/4bnMbG3

Happy Fossil Friday from the Museum’s Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs! Behold Styracosaurus. A relative of the famous horned dinosaur Triceratops, Styracosaurus had huge spikes sticking out from its frill, the bony collar that projects rearward from the skull, and a singular nasal horn.

Science news! Discovered in Scotland in 1984 and described in 1990, Westlothiana lizziae—nicknamed “Lizzie” for its lizard-like appearance—was considered one of the earliest known reptiles. Now, a new look inside the 345-million-year-old fossil is revealing a very different story. 👀

🎃👻🍫Trick or treat! On Saturday, October 31, dive into a deep-sea Halloween adventure at the Museum! Before heading out for trick-or-treating around the city, spend the day under the Blue Whale with live music, dancing, crafts, science demonstrations, and more. Get tickets.👇

Thank you to everyone who joined us for ClimateFest! This full-day celebration of science, sustainability, & community brought the science of climate change to life through hands-on activities, pop-up presentations, & live demonstrations across the Museum. Photos: Alvaro Keding & Daniel Kim/© AMNH

The Resplendent Quetzal inhabits the cloud forests of Central America. Males showcase brilliant iridescent green plumage that contrasts with a vibrant shock of red on their bellies, and their tail feathers can grow up to 3 ft (0.9 m) long! Photo: Martin Walsh, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, iNaturalist

Welcome back to Trilobite Tuesday! Behold this carefully prepared Lonchodomas rostratus. The hard bioclastic limestone that comprises Eastern Europe's Viivikonna Formation often adheres to a trilobite’s slender spines, making its clean removal a challenge to even the most skilled preparators.

🚨Research alert! A new study based on the largest bat genome and fossil study ever conducted has found that bats most likely arose in Europe around 65 million years ago, overturning previous assumptions. Read more.👇

Paleoclimatologist and Museum Curator Nathalie Goodkin explains that the 2026 El Niño is on track to be the strongest on record and how looking to the past can help us understand current climate and weather patterns.