American Museum of Natural History

A Tupuxuara leonardii fossil skeleton hangs from the Museum ceiling; it looks as if the fossil skeleton is flying toward the left side of the screen. It has thin bones for its legs and arms and legs. It has a large thick beak and crest atop its head.

Happy Fossil Friday! Let’s fly back in time to the Cretaceous some 110 million years ago to meet Tupuxuara leonardii. This flying reptile had a wingspan of about 15 ft (4.5 m) and a huge fan-shaped crest. But why the elaborate headgear? Scientists think that pterosaurs could have used their distinctive crests to steer during flight, to recognize members of the same species, or to attract mates. Like the crests of some modern birds, they may have also been brightly colored.

Photo: © AMNH

A photo of two Great Crested Grebes in water. The birds have long necks and heads framed by elaborate reddish and black plumes. Their bodies are a dusty brown color with pale white underbellies.

So you think you can dance? The long-necked Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) sure can. This bird can be found across a wide range that includes parts of Africa, Western Europe, and New Zealand. During mating season, males sport reddish plumes on their heads, which they use in elaborate courtship displays that include wing flapping, synchronised swimming, head shaking, and even underwater diving.

Photo: Frank Vassen, CC BY 2.0, flickr

A photo of manatees underwater. The animals are large, rotund, and gray in color. They have paddle-shaped tails.

Manatees: Not the mermaids we wanted, but the ones we needed.

Today is Manatee Appreciation Day! Once mistaken for mythical creatures, manatees are marine mammals part of a small group known as “Sirenia,” a name which comes from the Sirens of ancient Greek mythology. Spending most of their time traveling, resting, or eating seagrass, manatees help maintain healthy marine ecosystems by keeping aquatic vegetation in check. This is why they’re sometimes dubbed the “lawn mowers of the sea.”

Unfortunately, all three extant manatee species are vulnerable to extinction—and these graceful sea critters require additional protection from major threats like habitat destruction and collisions with boats and ships.

Photo: David Hinkel, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

How did the earliest galaxies form, and what implications does that have for fundamental laws of physics? Join Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, and a panel of leading scientists and experts for a spirited conversation around the profound impact NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is having on our understanding of the universe since it began transmitting images and astronomical data in 2022. Watch the 2024 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate.

Grounded by Our Roots | AMNH

Coming soon: An exhibition showcasing contemporary Indigenous art of Northwest Coast from up-and-coming artists.

American Museum of Natural History

Coming soon! Grounded by Our Roots, an exhibition of extraordinary works by up-and-coming Indigenous artists who draw inspiration from their cultural traditions, will open to the public on April 3 in the Museum’s Northwest Coast Hall’s rotating art gallery.

This exhibition features 13 pieces—including paintings, prints, clothing, and sculptures—that showcase contemporary Indigenous art inspired by rich visual arts traditions of the Northwest Coast.

Grounded by Our Roots will be included with Museum admission. Learn more.

A photo of three fly agaric mushrooms. They have bright red caps, dotted with white, and have white bases.

Looking for a power boost? Don’t count on this fungus! 🍄 The fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) can be spotted on forest floors throughout the Northern Hemisphere, with a range that includes parts of North America and Europe. Its bright red cap may be alluring, but it’s also a warning. Traditionally used as an insecticide, this mushroom is considered toxic to humans. Consumption can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and hallucinations. In rare cases, it can even induce a coma-like state.

Photo: Holger Krisp, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Artist's rendering of an ancient freshwater dolphin with a long snout in murky waters, with other creatures in the background.

Research alert! A team of international scientists has discovered the largest known freshwater dolphin, an ancient species that lived in the Peruvian Amazon some 16.5 million years ago. Pebanista yacuruna, which likely measured 10-11.5-feet (3-3.5 meters) long, inhabited what is now the Amazon River basin before this system had its major connection to the Atlantic Ocean.

“Discoveries by our international collaborative teams tell us the kinds of tropical life that existed during times in Earth’s history when virtually nothing had been known before,” said John Flynn, the Museum’s Frick Curator of Fossil Mammals and a co-author on the new study, which was published in the journal Science Advances. “This is crucial to understanding the history and pathways that led to the remarkably rich modern Amazonian biodiversity.”

Learn more about this animal, and its surprising modern relatives, in our latest blog post.

A vintage-looking photo of the Museum's castle-like exterior. The building is covered in clay-colored bricks and adorned with turrets. There's a bed of colorful flowers in the foreground; it's filled with a variety of red, yellow, and orange tulips. The sky above is blue.

Even though it’s still chilly in New York, spring has technically sprung! With the start of the season comes the arrival of fragrant and colorful flowers, like the tulip. This archival image, from the Museum’s library, shows tulips in the flowerbeds at the 77th Street facade. This vibrant blossom is a member of the Liliaceae family, which also includes lilies. The tulip is a bulbiferous plant, meaning its organs are stored within a bulb underground, from which the main stem and flower emerges. The tulip was first cultivated in Persia, but today, it’s widely grown for its pop of color and can be spotted around the world.

Photo: Image no. K13056, AMNH Library

A photo of a fossilized trilobite. It is black in color with a multi-segmented body and somewhat resembles a horseshoe crab.

Welcome to another Trilobite Tuesday! Upstate New York’s Walcott-Rust Quarry produces some of the best-preserved Ordovician trilobites in the world. Some specimens, like this rare 4.6-cm- (1.8-in-) long Ceraurus, have thick calcite shells—beautifully displaying the fine details of these armor-like carapaces.

We’re celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day in a big way, with one of the largest known deer: the Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus)! It was originally discovered in bog deposits in Ireland. This megafauna could weigh up to 1,500 pounds (680 kg) and its antlers could reach an incredible 13-ft- (4-m-) spread. Once ranging from western Europe to China, this animal died out some 10,000 years ago. However, at least one population, living in Russia’s Ural Mountains, managed to survive until about 7,770 years ago, long after the end of the Pleistocene.

See the Irish Elk up close in the Museum’s Hall of Advanced Mammals! We’re open daily from 10 am-5:30 pm. Plan your visit.

Photo: © AMNH

A photo of a fossilized trilobite. It has a multi-segmented body and spines protruding from either side.

It’s Trilobite Tuesday! Pictured is a well-preserved 3-in- (7.6-cm-) long Olenoides. Specimens, like this one from the Middle Cambrian, appear in sedimentary outcrops around the globe—from Utah to Wyoming and British Columbia to Siberia.

A photo of people with their backs turned to the camera. They are watching the sky, which is filled with a flock of starlings in flight.

Have you ever looked up at the sky to see a view like this? When masses of Starlings (genus Sturnidae) fly in sync, this phenomenon is known as a murmuration. Wonder why these birds do this? Flying in a group of hundreds, sometimes even thousands, provides protection against predators: The mass can be daunting for a falcon who’s trying to snatch a single target from the quick-moving crowd. To stay in a tight formation, each starling is in tune with the motions of seven of its surrounding neighbors. Doing so allows each bird to respond to the fluid movements of the overall cohort, as there’s no single bird leading the flock.

Photo: Damien Walmsley, CC BY-NC 2.0, flickr

☘️Last chance: See Garden of Green before it closes on March 17! This exhibition showcases glamorous green jewels, including emerald, jadeite jade, peridot, malachite chrysoprase, and green chalcedony. These dazzling pieces are from the collections of Van Cleef & Arpels. The show is included with admission.

A photo of three men in suits standing beside the colossal skull of Deinosuchus. It is as large as a man. On a pedestal nearby, the skull of a modern crocodile seems small in comparison.

What a croc! This Fossil Friday, let’s take a bite out of the weekend with Deinosuchus—a giant crocodilian that lived alongside the dinosaurs some 75 million years ago. Reaching lengths of more than 35 ft (10.7 m) and weighing more than 8,000 lbs (3628.7 kg), Deinosuchus was as long as a school bus and as heavy as an elephant, making it one of the most powerful predators in its ecosystem. In fact, partially healed bite marks found on the bones of a tyrannosaur in North America match this giant croc’s teeth, suggesting Deinosuchus could go toe to toe with even the most formidable of dinosaurs.

This image is a historical reconstruction from 1942 and is not representative of current size estimates.

🌊 March babies, your birthstone is aquamarine! Find your birthstone and more in the Museum’s Halls of Gems and Minerals.