American Museum of Natural History

We were delighted at the American Museum of Natural History to welcome The New York Times for an inside look at the careful process of moving Apex, a remarkably complete Stegosaurus fossil, to its new location on the fourth floor of the Museum’s Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. The relocation also provided an opportunity to record scientific data and take a sample of the fossil for the Museum’s permanent collection. Apex will be back on public view next Friday, October 24. https://lnkd.in/eM7vBGta

Today through Friday, October 17, the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) will host the 16th Annual Student Conference on Conservation Science, New York (SCCS-NY). As a part of the only international series of conservation conferences featuring students and early-career professionals, SCCS-NY provides opportunities for emerging scientists to professionally network, gain experience, and present and receive feedback on their work. Highlights include presentations by students and early-career biodiversity conservation scientists, a keynote address from Dr. Liliana Dávalos, and a careers panel. Hara Woltz, the conference Artist-in-Residence, will guide participants in creating art together, reflecting their research passions and evolving views of conservation science. For more information, visit: https://lnkd.in/eaGbJJ-U 

Set to launch by May of 2027, NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will transform our understanding of the cosmos. At our Frontiers Lecture on Tuesday, October 28, get a behind-the-scenes look with Julie McEnery, senior project scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. We’ll learn more about Roman's research objectives: to measure the effects of dark energy, map the structure and evolution of galaxies, and identify new exoplanets through gravitational microlensing. Get tickets: https://bit.ly/4ntsXDa #space #spaceexploration #museums #astronomy #astrophysics

Join us for a relaxed and sensory-friendly Astronomy Live on Sunday, October 19. Museum educators Kate Schmidt and Devin D’Agostino will explore how the formation of new worlds provides us with exciting clues about our own. This modified Hayden Planetarium program, designed for a neurodiverse youth audience, features floor lighting, reduced volume, and sensory tools. For more details and to get tickets, visit: https://bit.ly/46vZ0MA #museums #nyc #thingstodoinnyc

🚨Research alert! A recent study led by Museum Macaulay Curator Roger Benson details a new species of Jurassic reptile that has links to the origins of lizards and snakes. With python-like hooked teeth and a body similar to a gecko’s, the newly described species, named Breugnathair elgolensis, lived about 167 million years ago and is one of the oldest relatively complete fossil lizards yet discovered. Nearly 16 in (40.6 cm) long from head to tail, Breugnathair was one of the largest lizards in its ecosystem, where it likely preyed on smaller lizards, early mammals, and other vertebrates, like young dinosaurs. But is it a lizard-like ancestor of snakes or a predecessor of all lizards and snakes? Because it has such an unusual mixture of features, and because other fossils that shed light on early squamate evolution are rare, the researchers did not arrive at a conclusive answer. “This fossil gets us quite far, but it doesn’t get us all of the way,” Benson said. “However, it makes us even more excited about the possibility of figuring out where snakes come from.”  Read more about the research, which was published this week in the journal Nature, in our latest blog post: https://amnh.link/46Lv1z5 Image 1: National Museums Scotland © Brennan Stokkermans Images 2 & 3: Mick Ellison/© AMNH #newresearch #STEM #naturalhistory #paleontology #museums

On Friday, September 26, educators, policy makers, and thought leaders came together at the Museum for Climate Education in Action, a #ClimateWeekNYC event organized by the Museum with SubjectToClimate, Climate and Resilience Education Task Force, National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF), Climate Mental Health Network, and Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Teachers from across New York State shared classroom strategies for integrating climate change into everyday instruction, offering a firsthand look at how climate education is being implemented on the ground. Museum President Sean Decatur gave welcome remarks, and The Nature Conservancy’s Chief Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe delivered a keynote address on the role of education in equipping the next generation to respond to the climate crisis. By spotlighting classroom-level leadership and the power of sharing resources and knowledge, the event demonstrated how climate education can drive resilience, empower students, and build stronger communities. Thank you to all who joined us!

Save the date! The Museum is hosting the 2025 Black In Natural History Museums Convening on October 13–14.   This is an opportunity for local students, researchers, and faculty across the natural sciences and anthropology to network and learn about the exciting work currently conducted by Black scientists, curators, and educators in museums. The convening will include presentations by researchers, including a Ph.D. candidate at the Museum’s Richard Gilder Graduate School, and a keynote speech from the Museum President Sean Decatur. While you’re here, you can also see the exhibition Black in Natural History Museums on Floor 3. Explore the stories of 17 modern and historical Black scientists, artists, and curators in natural history.   Registration for the convening is required, but there are no fees to attend. RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3VNnVoL

From a full-day celebration of science and sustainability to performances, diorama transformations, lightning lectures, and small group discussions about local solutions, the Museum was abuzz during Climate Week NYC. Thank you to all who joined us! This slate of programming was supported by Wellcome Trust, who brought health to the heart of #ClimateWeekNYC. Check out our calendar for more exciting events at the Museum this fall: https://bit.ly/4gV8lRS Photos: Alvaro Keding & Daniel Kim/© AMNH #museums #newyorkcity #science

Congratulations to this year’s graduates of the Richard Gilder Graduate School! This evening, the Museum held its 2025 commencement under the iconic Blue Whale in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, celebrating five doctoral graduates and 19 Master of Arts in Teaching Earth Science Residency Program (MAT ESRP) graduates. Since the first cohort entered in 2012, the MAT ESRP has prepared 204 Earth science teachers, reaching approximately 100,000 students in New York and beyond.   In addition, the Museum conferred an honorary Doctor of Science degree to oceanographer and carbon cycle geochemist Ellen Druffel, co-director of the W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory and distinguished professor and Fred Kavli Professor of Earth System Science at UC Irvine; and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Rick Smith, president and CEO of The Pinkerton Foundation.   Photo: Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Research alert! A new study led by scientists at the Museum and the Chinese Academy of Sciences suggests that the evolution of the modern mammalian jaw—which makes exceptional hearing and chewing possible for a wide range of mammals, including humans—is more complex than previously thought. The team used high-resolution computed tomography (CT) scanning to look at two fossil specimens from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS: Polistodon chuannanensi, an opossum-sized animal that had a “horn” it likely used for digging, and a new species they described in the process, Camurocondylus lufengensis, a squirrel-sized animal that lived in the early Jurassic. The researchers found new jaw formations in both animals. These discoveries increase the diversity of jaw joints in mammalian evolution and expand researchers’ understanding of the evolutionary sequence of key mammalian characteristics that are critical for understanding how mammals process their food and hear airborne sounds   “The evolution of the mammalian jaw joint is one of the most intriguing and incomplete chapters in vertebrate history, with key transitions obscured by gaps in the fossil record,” said Museum Paleontology Division Curator jin meng one of the corresponding authors on the new Nature study, which was published this week. Read more about the research, here: https://bit.ly/4gLpWvt Illustration of Polistodon chuannanensi by ZHAO Chuang © PNSO #STEM #newresearch #paleontology