Stories

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

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

Cat Evolution: From Sphinx to Siamese

The cute critters have more history than you might realize.

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!

Side view of a mountain lion with Hollywood sign in the background

How a Mountain Lion CHANGED L.A. Forever

The P-22 Documentary

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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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Year of the Horse

Celebrate the 2026 Lunar New Year, Year of the Horse, with highlights from the collection

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.

A small coquÍ frog in some beautiful foliage

Research and Collections

The Songs of the Coquí Frog

The soothing sounds of home or a sonic menace? How you feel about the coquí's call depends on context, but when coquí frogs call in L.A. County, NHM's Herpetology Curator Dr. Greg Pauly answers.

A life-like painting of a large lizard lurking over a nest of dinosaur eggs with one already in its mouth

2025 Excavated: A Look Back at Some of the Biggest NHM Discoveries

From prehistoric giant lizards and ancient raccoons to newly discovered spiders and heroic extinct dugongs, NHMLAC researchers had a busy year describing new species. Meet some of the coolest creatures our researchers described this year, along with other inspiring discoveries.