🎥 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

Just how giant is the giant armadillo? Unlike other armadillos—which can roll up to defend themselves from foes—this species’ is too big to hide inside its carapace. It can reach lengths of 3.9 ft (1.2 m) and weights of ~110 lbs (50 kg)! Photo: luiz_alberto_santos, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

This Trilobite Tuesday, let’s head to Oklahoma’s Henryhouse Formation. The mid-sized trilobite Anasobella asper, pictured here, is among the rarest found at this site. No more than a dozen complete, articulated examples of this 1.2-in- (3-cm-) long Silurian cheirurid have ever been uncovered.

Behold the giant puffball! This fungus sits on lawns & meadows, absorbing nutrients from the soil. Its trillions of tiny spores emerge as a puff of "smoke" when the mushroom is disturbed. Photo: sandiphillips, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Meet the Sunda flying lemur! This tree-dweller, which glides through the air using a skin membrane between its neck and limbs, was once thought to be related to primates or bats. Scientists now place it on its own branch of the evolutionary tree. Photo: henrik_frietsch, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

In this year's Asimov Debate, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, convened a uniquely interdisciplinary panel of pioneers to examine AI’s impact on society. Watch the full debate on our YouTube channel.👇

Spring has sprung! 🌷Today is the first day of spring and that means you’ll probably spot this popular flower soon… the tulip! There are now 100+ species of tulip growing around the world, along with thousands of hybridized varieties. Photo: lauraseidanova, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Meet the striped hyena! When disturbed, this critter can double its size by raising the hairs on its back to intimidate foes. Though it's a scavenger that feeds primarily on carrion, it supplements its diet with fruits, seeds, and leaves. Photo: Tisha Mukherjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

You don’t want to dip your cookies in the Amazon milk frog’s “milk.” This amphibian’s common name refers to the poisonous, milky substance it secretes when under threat! This nocturnal frog inhabits the rainforests of South America. Photo: Seth Ames, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

🚨Science news! Recent research led by Meghan Forcellati, a comparative biology Ph.D. student in the Museum’s Richard Gilder Graduate School, has uncovered new clues about reptile evolution by studying the bony encasements of the inner ears of living lizards and snakes.

Welcome back to Trilobite Tuesday! Pictured is a 3-in- (7.6-cm-) long Nevadia weeksi from the Lower Cambrian of the Western United States. At a first glance, you might not notice the two prominent antennae preserved on this trilobite.

Monday mood? The aye-aye. Rarely seen, this solitary primate prefers a nocturnal lifestyle. It spends ~80% of its evenings foraging for fruits, seeds, & insect larvae—using elongated middle fingers to find and skewer food! Photo: Karen Andrea Boehme, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Meet the masked palm civet. Weighing ~11 lbs (5 kg), this house cat-sized critter is an omnivore with a taste for fruit. It also feeds on small vertebrates, insects, & birds. When threatened, it can discharge a potent scent from its anal glands. Photo: andrewhardacre, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, iNaturalist

This Caturday, meet the black-footed cat. It’s the smallest wild cat in Africa, only growing ~8 in (20 cm) tall & weighing ~4.4 lbs (2 kg). Nevertheless, its hunting success rate is 60%—and has a recorded kill rate of 10-14 prey per night. Photo: Patrick Ch. Apfeld, CC-BY-3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Save the date for The Weirdest Thing: A Science Gameshow and Dance Party at the Museum on Tues., 4/21. Join @radiolab.bsky.social host @latif.bsky.social for a game that reveals the stories behind objects in the Museum’s scientific collections. This event is for ages 21+. Get tickets: bit.ly/4rObPJL

What a croc! This Fossil Friday, meet Deinosuchus—a giant predator that was as long as a school bus & as heavy as an elephant. Partially healed bite marks found on the bones of a tyrannosaur match this croc's teeth, suggesting it could rival even the most formidable dinosaurs.

Behold the hooded grasshopper. It feeds primarily on leaves—and it’s perfectly camouflaged to look like one, too. This species inhabits parts of India and Sri Lanka. Females can grow up to 2 in (5.2 cm) long, while males are only about half their size. Photo: pathanimran, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

Did you know? The lesser Madagascar hedgehog tenrec is more closely related to elephants than true hedgehogs! Weighing ~0.25 lb (0.2 kg), this small mammal inhabits western Madagascar. It can roll up into a spiky ball to defend itself from foes. Photo: Nigel Voaden, CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist

It's Trilobite Tuesday! Proetid trilobites survived in the world's seas for almost 200 million years, beginning in the early stages of the Ordovician & lasting until the end of the Permian Period. The specimen pictured—the proetid Warburgella—comes from Malvern, England's Silurian Period exposures.

Behold the Taiwanese serow! Of the four living members of the genus Capricornis, this species is the smallest—reaching weights of only 60 lbs (30 kg). It inhabits mountainous forests on the island of Taiwan. Photo:ededwarddd, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

🦴Visitors can spot Diprotodon and Thylacoleo in the Hall of Primitive Mammals. 🏛️The Museum is open daily from 10 am–5:30 pm. Plan your visit: amnh.link/4lHPM4s

This Fossil Friday, meet Pachycephalosaurus! It was once theorized that, like modern bighorn sheep, it used its skull as a battering ram. More recent studies have challenged this idea, suggesting Pachycephalosaurus may have knocked its opponents’ sides like modern day bison.

The Vancouver Island marmot is one of North America’s rarest mammals. By the early 2000s, fewer than 30 individuals remained. Since then, conservation efforts have bolstered its numbers to more than 400—however, it remains critically endangered. Photo: Adam Taylor, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

I was back at the @amnh.org for a new SciCafe talk. This was about the weakening of the Gulf Stream & climate change. The speaker, an oceanographer, talked how a new analysis changed his position on the subject which highlighted the self-correcting nature of science. Yay science! lol. #AMNH

Meet the spectacled bear! Also known as the Andean bear, it’s distinguished by the glasses-shaped marking on its face. An inhabitant of the tropical Andes, it’s currently the only extant bear species in South America. Photo: Melvin TOULLEC, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Meet the Bornean bearded pig! This whiskered swine inhabits rainforests & mangroves in parts of Southeast Asia. It sometimes gathers in groups of 100+ individuals to migrate in search of fruit. It has the leanest torso & longest head of all living pigs. Photo: rick_franks, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

It's Trilobite Tuesday—and we have new research to share! On the left is a 3D scan of Lonchodomas chaziensis babies that are about the size of a grain of sand. The accompanying photo on the right shows an adult specimen of the closely related species Lonchodomas rostratus.

Blood Moon alert! Totality—when the Moon is fully immersed in Earth's dark umbral shadow & appears blood-red—will begin at 6:04 am ET on 3/3 in NYC & peak at 6:33 am ET. Totality will last for ~58 minutes, after which the Moon will begin to exit from Earth's shadow. Photo: NASA/GRC/Jordan Salkin

Meet the Malayan tapir. This critter's unique nose (proboscis) helps it breathe while in water. Though it may be friend-shaped, give it space: It weighs ~1,000 lbs (450 kg) & can run faster than an Olympic sprinter! Photo: John Clough, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

With a duck-like bill, beaver-like tail, and the ability to lay eggs, the platypus has a lot going on. It lives in Australia, where it inhabits fresh water. It also happens to be venomous, inducing excruciating pain with its sting. Photo: John Morton, CC BY-SA 2.0, iNaturalist

Meet the sand cat. Thick soles on its paws allow it to withstand the temperature extremes of desert sand. In parts of its range, days can reach 124° Fahrenheit (51° C) and then plummet to 31° Fahrenheit (-0.5° C) by night! Photo: Cloudtail the Snow Leopard, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, flickr

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… a dinosaur? Nope to all of the above. This #FossilFriday, let’s celebrate pterosaurs, flying reptiles that ruled the skies for 150+ million years. Some were as small as paper airplanes while others had wingspans bigger than an F-16 fighter jet!

Despite resembling the raccoon, the red panda is in its own distinct family: Ailuridae. Spending most of its life in the treetops, it uses its long tail as a counterbalance & can rotate its feet 180 degrees to aid it in gripping tree bark & branches. Photo: Mathias Appel, CC0 1.0, Wikimedia Commons

t’s Trilobite Tuesday! Pictured above is a Ceratonurus trilobite from Oklahoma. Strikingly similar examples of this genus have been found some 4,970 mi (8,000 km) away in Morocco, such as the one pictured below.

🎟️Tickets will be available for A Night at the Museum: The Overnight Experience for the March, April, May, & June sleepovers starting on Tues, 2/24, at 10:30 am for Members at the Adventurer level & above. Tickets for the general public go on sale on Tues, 3/3, at 10:30 am. Photos: A. Keding/© AMNH

☃️Due to the winter storm, the Museum will be closed tomorrow, Monday, February 23. 🐻Take a cue from the bears—it’s a hibernation day. Stay safe, stay warm, and we’ll see you soon. Photo: Alvaro Keding/©AMNH

Caturday Mood? Pallas' cat. Found in parts of Asia, it lives a primarily solitary life & only seeks out company during mating season. A female Pallas’ cat produces a litter of one to six kittens, and by just 5 months old, they disperse to set out on their own! Photo: pelican, CC BY-SA 2.0, flickr

Fun at the @amnh.org #Carnival!

It's Fossil Friday! Meet Deinonychus antirrhopus. It belonged to a group of dinosaurs called maniraptors, or “hand-robbers.” Its hands & feet were equipped with sharp claws for catching & grasping prey. With its sickle claws & sharp teeth, it was likely a fierce predator.

🐋 Throwback Thursday! On Wednesday, February 26, 1969, the Museum's Hall of Ocean Life and Biology of Fishes opened. The next Sunday, more than 35,000 people came to see the newly unveiled Blue Whale—setting a new attendance record.

Don’t greet the Senegal bush baby with a handshake! To mark its territory and improve its grip, this mammal urinates on its own hands! This nocturnal omnivore uses its large eyes and ears to find food, including seeds, eggs, and insects. Photo: Petr Hamerník, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to Trilobite Tuesday! Pictured is Asaphus kowalewski. This 450-million-year-old species stands apart from other trilobites with its eyes perched atop 2-inch- (5-centimeter-) long stalks. To some, Asaphus kowalewski may look like an animal from a distant galaxy!

Here’s one lobster that you might not want with a side of butter: the lobster moth! Named for its lobster-like larval form, this wide-ranging insect inhabits parts of Europe & Asia. While it resembles a crustacean, it can also mimic ants as a way to deter potential predators.

Hip hip hooray, it’s World Hippo Day! Hippos are one of the largest living land animals. Full-grown adults can reach weights of up to 7,055 lbs (3,200 kg)! These large herbivores live in Africa & have one of the strongest bites in the animal kingdom! Photo: olegrozhko, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, iNaturalist

❤️‍🔥You’re on a date at the Museum: Where do you bring your special someone first?❤️‍🔥 Photos: Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

🌟Save the date! You’re invited to Carnival at the Museum on Thursday, February 19. Eat, dance, drink, shop, and more. This event is a high-energy celebration of Caribbean culture, from Barbados to Trinidad to Manhattan, brought to life through the electrifying spirit of Carnival: bit.ly/3YZgmNt

Happy birthday, Barnum Brown! Known as one of the greatest dinosaur collectors of all time—& the discoverer of T. rex—he helped the Museum establish its world-class fossil collection. His wondrous fossil-hunting career led him from a frontier farm to the world’s top fossil sites.

🔥Meet the fire snail. Found only in the cloud forests of Peninsular Malaysia, this species is easily recognizable thanks to its bright coloration and large size. It is threatened by habitat destruction and collection for the pet trade. Photo: Albert Kang, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

It's Trilobite Tuesday! Some trilobite fossils provide extra insight about life in the Paleozoic seas—like this 430-million-year-old Arctinurus from the Rochester Shale of New York! Its 5-in- (12.7-cm-) long body is covered in brachiopod shells that hitched a ride on the trilobite's carapace.

On National Poop Day, we share ancient poop! Can you guess which animal made this well-preserved mess? A giant ground sloth! This specimen was found in Mylodon Cave in Chile. You can see it in person on the Museum's second floor.💩