Stories

Welcome to Stories, a place to explore—and be inspired by—the wonder of our natural and cultural worlds.

The Ancient Odyssey of Crabs
An international team of scientists including NHM researchers chart crabs' sideways path from the ocean to dry land—a journey they've made at least 17 times since the Triassic.
Elephant Hill Community Nature Celebration and Habitat Survey
Join community members and scientists, Saturday, October 14, to celebrate and study nature on Elephant Hill, an open space in North East L.A. valuable to humans and wildlife.
How Los Angeles Moved Uncomfortably Close to Mountain Wildfires
A look at L.A.'s growth toward wildfires through historic images from the Seaver Center
Jurassic Perks
How Jurassic Park helped spark a boom in new dinosaur discoveries
An Ocean of Worms
Discover an underwater world of incredible marine worms in the ancient rocks off L.A.’s coast
Stepping Stones Across Oceans
NHM’s Ichthyology Curator visits two remote islands to understand how fish move around our planet.
The Beginnings of Butterflies
A sweeping new study by over 80 scientists including NHM researcher Vijay Barve identifies that butterflies originated in North or Central America 100 million years ago.
Bugs For Life
NHM researchers’ ambitious plan to DNA barcode every insect species in CA—before it’s too late
There's a Feather for That
Bird Curator Allison Shultz lays out the surprising powers of plumage and how understanding feathers helps humans—and helps humans to help birds.
Big Bee Bonanza
Help digitize NHM's bee collections and keep bees buzzing with this crowd-sourced community science project