Stories

Welcome to Stories, a place to explore—and be inspired by—the wonder of our natural and cultural worlds.

A yellowish-green Sapayoa bird on a branch in a tropical forest

One Tropical Bird's History Through the Lens of Lice

NHM's new Ornithology Collections Manager, Juliana Soto-Patiño, discovers the evolutionary origins of the mysterious Sapayoa aenigma through its parasitic louse 
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White, gray, and black spotted snow leopard with green eyes, laying on its side and looking directly into the camera

Cat Anatomy

A look inside how our fierce feline friends effectively move, hunt, and slurp.
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two garden snails, one left-spiraling, one right-spiraling, held in a person's palm

The SNERCH for True Love: A Sinistral Snail Tale

This Snail Search season, be on the lookout for snails with counter-clockwise shells
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Great Sphinx of Giza

Cat Evolution: From Sphinx to Siamese 

The cute critters have more history than you might realize.
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Tania Collas wearing magnifying head piece and purple gloves while holding a small paintbrush up to a mural

Restoring a Los Angeles Mural

The unsung heroes working behind the scenes to keep collections looking their best
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A wide-angle, eye-level studio photograph shows a deep, rounded bowl crafted from a polished coconut shell. The bowl is tilted slightly to the right, resting on a small, pointed nub at its base. It sits against a neutral, light-gray background. A black-and-white centimeter scale bar is positioned in the foreground for size reference.

A Virtual Tour of the "Cup" Collections

Explore the collections of the Natural History Museum through the lens of the vessel!
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Band playing on stage under red and yellow lighting

First Fridays: 20th Anniversary Season

Celebrating 20 years as Los Angeles’ premier museum after-hours experience
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Lunar New Year - Year of the Horse image

Year of the Horse

Celebrate the 2026 Lunar New Year, Year of the Horse, with highlights from the collection
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Pollinator Meadow in the Nature Gardens Spring

Nature Gardens Wins Award

Distinguished for its home-grown organic gardening practices that eschew pesticides, our museum lets plants and insects co-exist.
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