Have you ever seen the thin-spined porcupine? This nocturnal rodent, also known as the bristle-spined rat, is found only in parts of northern and central Brazil. Unlike many other porcupines, this one's quills are more like bristles than spines! ultimosrefugios, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNautralist

Meet the velvet mite! This arachnid lives in topsoil and breaks down dead plant and animal matter. Human agriculture, and the survival of virtually all plant species, depends on continuous renewal of topsoil by tiny organisms like this mite. Photo: Bruno Bell, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Meet the European wildcat. About the size of an average housecat, this powerful feline preys on rabbits, rodents, birds, & mustelids like weasels and martens. Its thick fur, bushy tail, and chonky appearance set it apart from other wild cat species. Photo: virag93buranyi, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

🏆The Museum’s newest exhibition For the Win: Objects of Sports Excellence, opens one week from today, on Friday, May 15! Experience 150 years of sports history and see over 70 objects, like the National Football League’s Vince Lombardi Trophy. Photo: Alvaro Keding & Daniel Kim/© AMNH

Which critter has a pig-like nose & is native to parts of India? Meet the Indian flap shell turtle! It tends to hang out near shallow waters where it might bury itself beneath mud, or bask in the sun while atop floating vegetation. Photo: Somu Mukho, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Is that a giant rabbit? 👀 Nope, it’s the Patagonian mara (Dolichotis patagonum)! Weighing up to 35 lbs (15.9 kg), this long-legged rodent is built for speed. In fact, it can run faster than an Olympic sprinter—reaching speeds of up to 45 mph (72 km/h)! Photo: TatianaTolstykh, iStock

It's Trilobite Tuesday! Paraceraurus spinulosus hails from Eastern Europe’s Ordovician deposits ,where it is an uncommon find. Trilobites like this one are noteworthy for their thick, caramel-colored calcite shells and for their extraordinary, three-dimensional preservation.

Meet the Fiery-billed Araçari (Pteroglossus frantzii)! It lives in humid forests in Costa Rica & Panama, where it eats fruits, insects, & eggs. It might even eat the juveniles & eggs of pigeons or woodpeckers while also stealing the nest for itself. Photo: Karl Kroeker, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

🎥Join Curator Rob DeSalle & Museum research associate Bernd Schierwater of the University of Hanover on a journey to find new placozoa species. These tiny pancake-shaped animals offer insights into the origins of the animal kingdom & may help us answer questions about cancer. youtu.be/CS1wMKIkGRI

We hope to see you there! Get tickets: bit.ly/3NJa3eQ

Congratulations to Melanie Stiassny (@mstiassny.bsky.social), the Museum’s Herbert R. and Evelyn Axelrod Research Curator in the Department of Ichthyology, on being awarded the 2026 Linnean Medal for “significant and sustained advances in the understanding of nature.”

🎞️ The Museum’s Margaret Mead Film Festival is this weekend! This three-day celebration will present storytelling and documentary films from diverse voices near and far. See the full film schedule and get tickets: bit.ly/3NJa3eQ Photos: Alvaro Keding and Daniel Kim/© AMNH

Nope, this isn't a snake! Unlike snakes, the slender glass lizard has blinking eyelids. It also has earholes, whereas snakes “hear” through vibrations. And while snakes can dislocate their jaw bones to swallow large prey whole, this lizard can't. Photo: kassie_sheridan, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

This critter is more closely related to elephants than shrews! Meet the black & rufous elephant shrew, a distant relative of manatees & hyraxes. This fast-moving mammal creates networks of foraging trails to patrol its territory & escape from foes. Photo: Martin Walsh, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, iNaturalist

If you need to see a tiny snail today, meet the black gloss snail. 🐌 Found across the Northern Hemisphere, this gastropod's shell typically reaches ~0.2 in (.5 cm) in diameter—smaller than a penny. It feeds on decaying leaves, fruit, and mushrooms. Photo: elwinham, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Do you know a teen who is interested in filmmaking? On Sunday, 5/3, youth ages 13–17 are invited to a DCTV Workshop at the Museum! This session offers a behind-the-scenes perspective on how youth producers develop stories and shape their films in the edit. This event is free with RSVP! Details.⬇️

Get to know the largest member of the dog family in South America: the maned wolf. Standing about 3 ft (0.9 m) tall at the shoulder, this critter dines on small mammals, fish, reptiles, & birds. It communicates with deep, gruff roar-like barks. Photo: ligiacarvalho, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

That’s not a skunk, but it is stinky. Meet the striped polecat. When threatened, this African mammal might squeal, raise its tail, & excrete pungent liquid from its anal glands—which can be directed at foes up to 2 m (6.5 ft) away. Photo: sitszasadam, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Craving a ripe tomato? This frog can’t help. 🍅 Despite resembling a juicy fruit, the tomato frog wouldn’t taste very good. Its bright red hue is an example of aposematic coloring—a signal that means “don’t touch!” If bothered, it can secrete sticky, mildly toxic goo. Photo: David Kenny, iStock

🌎Happy Earth Day! In celebration of our home planet, the Museum recently held its annual all-ages festival: EarthFest! Visitors enjoyed hands-on activities, science trivia, specimen Identification Stations, a tardigrade cake, and more. Thank you to everyone who joined us! Photos: Daniel Kim/© AMNH

There's a new dinosaur (model) at the Museum! Meet Microraptor gui. Since 2005, Museum Preparator Jason Brougham worked with Mark Norell, inaugural Macaulay Curator in the Museum’s Division of Paleontology, on modeling this amazing animal.

Meet the Himalayan Monal! 🌈 Males flaunt iridescent feathers to attract mates. Found in the Himalayas, this bird lives at altitudes up to 16,000 ft (4,877 m) in summer! It uses its hooked beak to forage for insects, seeds, and berries. Hari K Patibanda, CC BY-NC 2.0, iNaturalist

🌎In celebration of #EarthDay, watch this video by the Museum's Science Visualization team to learn how animals and plants work together to store carbon and stabilize our climate.

Gotta show you this tardigrade cake I saw at the American Museum of Natural History.

Behold the rosy veincap! This species, which is considered inedible, is the only fungus in its taxon. It has a wide range & can be spotted worldwide, including in parts of N. America, Africa, Europe, & Asia. Have you ever seen one? Photo: Dan Molter, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Meet the beluga whale! Known as the “canary of the sea,” this social animal uses sounds—including whistles, clicks, and chirps—to communicate & navigate the open ocean. Since it's so reliant on sound, noise pollution is one of its greatest threats. Photo: azure27014, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

There's a new exhibition at the Museum! Fossils of the Flaming Cliffs celebrates the history of the Museum’s fossil excavations in the Gobi Desert. Come explore the story of how spectacular discoveries like these have transformed our understanding of life in the past. Learn more: bit.ly/3OlBMTb

The fossil record is an incredible archive, but bones alone can’t tell us the full story. To unlock the secrets of 66 million years ago, scientists like Museum Curator Michael Novacek are working deep in the Gobi Desert’s Nemegt Basin to reveal how geology records the Earth’s past in detail. Watch🔽

Here’s a critter you might not recognize: the ring-tailed vontsira (Galidia elegans)! Found in the forests of Madagascar, this small carnivore weighs up to 2 lbs (0.91 kg) and has a varied diet that includes insects, eggs, fish, and small mammals. Photo: sympiotr, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

This Saturday, SODCO will be participating in the American Museum of Natural History EarthFest. If you're in NYC, check it out! We'll be in the Hall of Ocean Life with a giant inflatable model of the JOIDES Resolution, ready to chat about SciOD! EarthFest details: www.amnh.org/calendar/earthfest

It's Trilobite Tuesday! Trimerus is among the planet’s most widely dispersed trilobite genera. The specimen pictured here is from England’s Wren’s Nest locale. Though complete specimens of Trimerus are a rare find, fully-articulated examples measuring ~7.1 in (18 cm) in length have been uncovered.

The Lilac-breasted Roller is always dressed for spring. This monogamous bird mates for life, with courtship rituals that include swooping, diving, & rolling through the air. Lilac-breasted Rollers are so at home in the sky that they can breed in flight! Photo: Justin Ponder, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist

Fun visit last week to the American Museum of Natural History! Such impressive displays of giant fossil turtles, dinos, and more. #FossilFriday

Happy Fossil Friday! Meet Prestosuchus chiniquensis. It lived in what’s now Brazil some 210 million years ago. Although it was a large animal with big claws & a huge head with sharp-toothed jaws, it wasn't a dinosaur—it's actually a close relative of crocodylomorphs. Photo: © AMNH

Come explore the before-and-after story of the asteroid impact that led to the extinction of non-bird dinosaurs and the majority of animal and plant species on the planet in Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs. Details: bit.ly/4oylRxD

🎥 Tickets are now on sale for the Museum’s Margaret Mead Film Festival! This three-day event will be held from Friday, May 1, to Sunday, May 3. ➡️ Check out the full lineup of films: bit.ly/3NJa3eQ

ICYMI, @amnh.org's Jackie Faherty on the Artemis II mission: www.wnyc.org/story/why-sl...

Mark your calendars for EarthFest on Saturday, 4/18! Join our annual all-ages festival celebrating planet Earth with hands-on activities, science trivia, specimen Identification Stations, & more! EarthFest is free for Members or with any Museum admission: bit.ly/4bXACq1 📸: A. Keding & D. Kim/©AMNH

In this data visualization, see every dinosaur fossil known to science on a map! Look for where & when your favorite dinosaurs appear. See when birds like Archaeopteryx evolved & which groups of dinosaurs dominated the landscape from one time period to the next: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ_i...

Let us know what else you would see if you only had an hour at the Museum! Everything you’ve seen is included with General Admission. If you have more time to spend, check out our ticketed exhibitions in the Gilder Center, including the Butterfly Vivarium and Invisible Worlds.

🥚🐣 Did you know? The flightless Elephant Bird’s eggs are 7x larger than those of an Ostrich! Step into the Museum’s Ornithology Collections to discover the biggest and smallest eggs.

Meet the smallest rabbit in North America, the pygmy rabbit! On average, it weighs just under 1 lb (.45 kg) with a body length of 11 in (28 cm). It has a small range across the northwestern region of the U.S., where it inhabits deserts & shrubland. Photo: Paul Carter, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Hey there @amnh.org 👋

What you see before you is a skull of a cyclops—the large central hole is its lone eye socket. Happy April Fools' Day! The myth of the 1-eyed giant Cyclops may have been fueled by discoveries of fossils of ancient elephants, with the central nasal cavity mistaken for an eye socket.

For the first time in more than 50 yrs, humans are headed to the Moon! Join Associate Curator Jackie Faherty & colleagues in the Cullman Hall of the Universe today for special 10-min presentations & Q&A sessions on the Moon’s origins, the Artemis II mission, & the future of human space exploration.

Meet the world’s smallest bear. Weighing in around 103 lbs (47 kg), the sun bear is about half the size of an American black bear! It's an excellent climber, sometimes building nests in the treetops as much as 128 ft (40 m) from the ground, where it can snooze in peace.

Behold the western pygmy possum! This dainty marsupial typically weighs ~0.5 oz (14 g)—that's about as much as a AA battery! It inhabits treetops in forests throughout parts of Australia. As a nectarivore, it mainly feeds on plant nectar. Photo: Donna Belder, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist

Meet the jungle cat. This feline prefers wetland habitats in parts of North Africa & Asia. Though not strictly nocturnal, it’s most commonly spotted at night and can travel up to 3.7 mi (6 km) in a single evening. Photo: Wildlife SOS, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

🚨Science news! A team including Museum researchers has published the most comprehensive documentation of a sperm whale birth ever recorded. To learn more, check out our latest blog post: bit.ly/4bCYZJr Photos 1–2: Brian J. Skerry/National Geographic Photo 3: @projectceti.bsky.social

🎥 The Museum’s Margaret Mead Film Festival kicks off on Friday, May 1! This three-day celebration will present storytelling and documentary films from diverse voices near and far. 🎟️ Weekend passes are now available! Details: bit.ly/3NJa3eQ Photo: Alvaro Keding/ ©AMNH