Stories
Welcome to Stories, a place to explore—and be inspired by—the wonder of our natural and cultural worlds.
Not Deformed, Just Weird: Ancient Pygmy Sperm Whale Species Is the Most Asymmetrical Mammal of All Time
New species of prehistoric sperm whale Scaphokogia huachafo had a Picasso-like face and fed on the Miocene seafloor more than five million years ago
NHM Scientists Discover There Are Way More Bugs in California Than You Thought
DNA barcoding more than a million insect specimens as part of the California Insect Barcode Initiative helps scientists grow the number of insect species in California to more than 60,000
The Light Wrangler
What inspires Maggie West, the artist who created the Natural History Museum's illuminated winter nature experience—NightTales?
NHM Scientists Brace for Unlikely Visitors and Strange Creatures During the Super El Niño
It's the strongest El Niño in more than a hundred years, and far-flung creatures are already arriving in Southern California, with more expected in the coming months. Studying them will help NHM researchers better understand the impacts of the massive climate event.
Coffee, Mayan culture, and Connecting to the Land
Rosa Gonzales, Jefri Lindo, Michaela Zholovnik, Christopher Lindo, DeBora Xon and Elvis Gonzales | Ülëw Coffee and Juice
Black Bears in Your Los Angeles Backyard
We asked our Curator of Mammalogy and Curator of Community Science what to do about big, hairy nosy neighbors
The Connection Between Orcas and Humans with NHM's Mammalogist Amanda Killian
Dive deep into the fascinating complexities of Earth's orcas