Fossils

Exhibitions

Scanning Electron Microscope Lab

See how big discoveries can come from the tiniest things in the Gem and Mineral Hall.

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Ichthyosaur

New Discoveries

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Exhibition | NHM

Dinosaur Hall

Step Into Our Award-winning Exhibition, and Enter the Age of Dinosaurs

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Exhibition | Tar Pits

Fossil Lab

What happens after the fossils at La Brea Tar Pits are excavated? This is where you find out.

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Events

See all events

Mon

24

Jun

a group of small children watch a paleontologist work on a fossil with a tool

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Jurassic Journey

Day Camps Youth

12 am

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Tue

25

Jun

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Jurassic Journey

Day Camps Youth

12 am

Learn more

Wed

26

Jun

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Jurassic Journey

Day Camps Youth

12 am

Learn more

Thu

27

Jun

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Jurassic Journey

Day Camps Youth

12 am

Learn more

Fri

28

Jun

Adventures in Nature Day Camp: Jurassic Journey

Day Camps Youth

12 am

Learn more

Stories

Launch pad for the Ariane 6 for Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana

Spaceport Fossils from French Guiana

How one small step for a spaceport in French Guiana led to a giant leap for Pleistocene fossils

The Lincoln Heights Whale skull being moved by staff on pallets outside the Museum

The Migration of the Lincoln Heights Whale

As modern whales make their annual journey across the ocean, discover one whale’s 10 million-year journey through time from Flat Top Hill to L.A. Underwater

Rectangular stone with Maya glyph depicting a man holding a cacao plant. Campeche, Mexico. AD 600-900.

A Virtual Chocolate-y Tour of the Collections

Explore the collections of the Natural History Museum through the lens of chocolate!

Year of the Dragon

Celebrate the 2024 Lunar New Year with highlights from the collection

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.

Bloomberg Connects Header Image depicting the screen of a guide user

Digital Guide to La Brea Tar Pits

Explore La Brea Tar Pits and over 160 international museums, galleries, sculpture parks, gardens, and cultural spaces on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.

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Girls in Stem text with a variety of icons in purple, yellow, and pink

Girls in STEM Days

Join us for Girls in STEM Days at the Natural History Museum! Girls in STEM Days are an opportunity for girls ages 8-18 to participate in hands-on STEM activities, meet real scientists, and explore future career paths in a fun and engaging way.

Recorrido Autoguiado de Saber-toothed Summer

Saber-toothed Summer Self-Guided Tour

Smilodon for the camera and capture some purrfect pics on this selfie scavenger hunt. Discover everything there is to know about the fearsome feline with the killer canines only at La Brea Tar Pits.

LBTP X PST: MARK DION

LBTP X PST: MARK DION
La Brea Tar Pits is proud to partner with the Getty Foundation as part of Pacific Standard Time 2024: Art x Science x L.A., a series of exhibitions, public programs, and publications exploring connections between the visual arts and science from prehistoric times to the present and across different cultures worldwide.

NHMLAC Discovery Talk: L.A.'s Ice Age Animals

Join Connie Clark, La Brea Tar Pits Preparator, as she explores the La Brea Tar Pits Museum Fossil Lab’s work to improve fossil preparation practices, recent finds in Project 23, and why animals found around L.A. today might be rarer in the Tar Pits fossil record.

News & Press

A Lighthouse in the Gobi Desert

A new study quantifies the impact of the world’s great fossil sites on our understanding of evolutionary relationships between fossil groups and discovers the key to understanding lizard evolutionary history in the Gobi Desert.

Paleoecologists, paleontologists, and geologists — including many from NHM’s Dinosaur Institute — found that significant loss of animal life in terrestrial ecosystems more easily leads to collapse than in marine ecosystems, and those ensuing collapses last much longer on land.

Diverse Fossils From Iconic Site Tell Story of how Saber-Toothed Cats, Dire Wolves, and Other Megafauna That Once Roamed the Los Angeles Basin Disappeared