272 Items Tagged

Natural History

Wallace Creek crossing the San Andreas Fault.

Santa Margarita, California

Wallace Creek

The San Andreas Fault spectacularly offsets this creek.

Narusawa, Japan

Fugaku Wind Cave

One in a pair of subterranean caves created by an ancient eruption of Mount Fuji.

Caglieron Caves

Caglieron Caves

These caves are home to a small church and were used to age cheese.

Prästens Badkar (The Priests Bathtub)

Simrishamn, Sweden

Prästens Badkar (The Priests Bathtub)

The world's only above water sand volcano, believed to once be the bathtub of a priest.

The shelves and drawers of the Bombay Natural History Society—open to the public only by appointment—display perfectly preserved blood pheasants, moon moths, pangolins, and more.

Inside the Hidden Natural History Museum of Mumbai

Rahul Khot oversees 138,000 specimens at the Bombay Natural History Society.

Kamakshi Ayyar August 7, 2020

Taxidermy skunks at the Field Museum.

The Surprising Importance of Skunks in the History of Chicago

An Anishinaabe word for skunk likely inspired the city's name.

Alex Schwartz July 29, 2020

The sign for the iridium layer, located next to the exposed rock.

Raton, New Mexico

Raton Iridium Layer

This unassuming layer of clay boasts an out-of-this-world origin story.

Inside Caves.

Abukuma-do Caves

These wondrously illuminated caverns extend under the mountains of the Fukushima Prefecture.

Arnside Bore

Arnside, England

Arnside Bore

This rare aquatic phenomenon is one of the more accessible tidal bores in Morecambe Bay.

West Coast sea otters are picking up <em>Sarcocystis neurona</em> from opossums via clams—a complex transmission chain exacerbated by human-induced "pathogen pollution."

What Do California Otters and Virginia Opossums Have In Common?

A pathogen that doesn't care about social-distancing rules.

Jennifer S. Holland March 30, 2020

Mobius Arch

Lone Pine, California

Mobius Arch

This rock formation named for its unique shape is one of many that call the Alabama Hills home.

The cryptic chameleon, <em>Calumma crypticum</em>, has a past full of mystery.

A Fossilized Skull May Solve the Mystery of a Chameleon Migration

A raft very likely carried chameleons between Madagascar and mainland Africa—but in which direction?

Sabrina Imbler February 18, 2020

Today nearly 7,000 Père David's deer roam the wetlands of China.

natural history

The French Missionary and the English Duke Who Saved a Chinese Deer From Extinction

A conservation tale 120 years in the telling.

Marina Wang January 24, 2020

For the first time since the days of Darwin, these iguanas are living on Santiago Island.

The Whack-a-Mole Survival of Galapagos Land Iguanas

Moving them from island to island is one way to conserve them.

Isaac Schultz November 7, 2019

Teams at the Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt began dismantling the mastodon in October 2019.

natural history museums

The Founding Fathers' Favorite Mastodon Is Coming Home for a Visit

Here's how you ship the skeleton of long-dead megafauna across the Atlantic.

Jessica Leigh Hester November 6, 2019

natural history museums

A Dead, Decomposing Whale Once Toured the United Kingdom

The Tay Whale brought together science, spectacle, and hucksterism in the quest to turn a buck.

Jessica Leigh Hester October 16, 2019

Primate specimens at London's Grant Museum of Zoology.

natural history museums

In London, Natural History Museums Confront Their Colonial Histories

It's not as easy as returning stolen statues.

Sabrina Imbler October 14, 2019

Mummified bison showing full body.

Washington, D.C.

Mummified Bison

The 28,000-year-old specimen is remarkably intact.