Past Exhibits

Join epidemiologists, veterinarians, public health workers, and citizens across the globe as they work together to identify viruses in animals and humans and contain infectious disease outbreaks.

Explore the breadth, depth, and splendor of the world's most extensive natural history collection. View some of the most intriguing, beautiful, and awe-inspiring objects in our collection.

Students in grades K-5 get a chance to practice their scientific inquiry skills as they interact with items from the museum’s collections.

Take a deep dive into the narwhal's icy, underwater world to explore what makes this mysterious animal and its changing ecosystem so important.

Encounter a world where dinosaurs roamed North America over 66 million years ago, and learn about the catastrophe that led to their ultimate demise.

Get up close to the fossil remains of giant reptiles—mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and sea turtles— that once ruled the sea off the coast of West Africa 88 – 66 million years ago.

Image Credit: Karen Carr Studio Inc. for the Paleo Angola Project and SeaMonsters Unearthed. 

Discover nature through the art of photography. These award winning photographs bring you breathtaking landscapes and intimate moments with wildlife in vibrant color and detail. 

This new exhibition highlights the unsung achievements of female paleontologists and examines the obstacles they face because of their gender.

This immersive multimedia exhibition illuminates Australia’s unique botanical and animal species.

Contemporary artists reflect on our influence on Earth's recent past, present, and future in this new exhibition. 

Learn about the history of anthropological fieldwork and the diversity of human life through works on paper, photography, sound, and film from archival and library collections.

Swim with a pod of orcas through this unique augmented reality experience.

Our genomes connect us to each other and the natural world.

Award-winning photographs of extraordinary and often rarely seen animal behaviors.

Explore inspirational stories about the places and connections to nature that changed people’s lives. Participate in activities to explore and share your own personal story. Add YOUR voice to make the museum and the world a better place for people and nature. 

Step into a tropical lowland forest where vested anteaters, tapirs and coatimundi’s share their island home with Smithsonian researchers, whose 100 years of research informs tropical forest conservation initiatives worldwide.

Explore the craft, innovation, and global influence in early handmade books through the natural materials—animal, vegetable, and mineral—that went into their making.