Museum scientists are taking action to restore California Red-legged Frog habitat in Baja California in response to massive declines in their population.

Having once had his work described as "loathsome harlotry," Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish biologist and physician who is known for the invention of Latin binomial nomenclature, popularly known as scientific names. 

John James Audubon’s birthday is April 26. He traveled extensively in America and overseas, studying and sketching wildlife. His life’s work would culminate in the famous and comprehensive tome, The Birds of America. John Audubon’s wife, however, led a very different life.

Museum scientists go on expeditions to remote areas of the Baja California Peninsula to study and better understand the biological diversity of areas that are not well documented. One such expedition took place in November 2017 in one of Baja California Sur’s most spectacular cardón forests.

Every year, we provide opportunities to more than 70,000 members of our community to experience The Nat through programs designed to offer low- to no-cost Museum access to all.

Whales are magnificent creatures, full of mystery and wonder… and one mystery that has puzzled scientists, including our very own Curator of Paleontology Dr. Tom Demèrè, for decades is how and when the evolution from teeth to baleen occurred in of the ancestors of today’s filter-feeding whales (e.g., blue, fin, humpback, right, and gray whales).

In February, the symbol of the heart is everywhere. The origin of the ubiquitous heart symbol, which can be traced back to earliest times in many different cultures, is cloaked in mystery and we will never be sure how it got started. Nor is it clear how that particular shape got linked to the human heart, an organ that is not especially “heart-symbol shaped.”

When plants or animals are so rare, we don’t even know if they need protection. So knowing they exist is the first step in conservation. Over the past couple of years, our researchers succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations at rediscovering lost species.

San Diego County has an embarrassment of riches, with more species of plants and animals than any other comparable area in the continental U.S. But we also have another claim to fame: this area is also extremely rich in gem and mineral deposits.

Halloween. Dia de los Muertos. National Deviled Egg Day. This time of year, it is hard not to think about the underworld and its ruler. In addition to having many names, the devil has a surprising number of species named after him.