Photo of stuffed elephant in main lobby of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

At The Museum

Japanese scientists videotaped this female giant squid, alive, at the water's surface

Giant Squid Overview

The National Museum of Natural History is home to one of the few giant squid specimens on display in a museum. Learn more about this mysterious creature in this overview.

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Featured Content

The Story of Stashed Whale Baleen

a painting of a ship on a plate of baleen

Surprising Results Upon Reexamining the Curious Jaw of the Moray Eel

A brown and white dragon moray eel with its mouth open.

Clever Measures Track Fishing Pressures

A Honduran small-scale fisherman on a boat setting out to fish.

The Sant Ocean Hall Turns Ten

The Sant Ocean Hall is the National Museum of Natural History's largest exhibit, providing visitors with a unique and breathtaking introduction to the majesty of the ocean

Trials and Tribulations with Contamination

Forams are tiny single-celled organisms.

At The Museum Articles

Tunicates—Not So Spineless Invertebrates

The Komodo National Park site in Indonesia was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1991. The site hosts "Komodo dragons" (Varanus komodoensis), a unique species that exists nowhere else in the world and is of great interest to scientists studying evolu

Heroes of Herbivory

Algae growing on underwater rock

Meet the Only Squid that Willfully Lops off its Arms

a squid

Live Jellyfish Make Splash in Marine Education

a neon purple jellyfish

Meals of the Mighty Mosasaur

the skull of a mosasaur

Adaptation in the Extremes: What Scale Worms Teach Us About Evolution

a man with a hard helmet in a cave

The Sant Ocean Hall: Salmon Shape a Way of Life

Master carver Douglas Chilton rides in the Raven Spirit canoe at its ceremonial launch.

Shark Snapshot - Saving sharks with an underwater photoshoot

Two nurse sharks hover over a baited cage