Stories

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

Chrysanthemum stone detail in Unearthed: Raw Beauty

Earth Blossoms

Chisel away with us at the science behind the “chrysanthemum stone", a 900-pound specimen bursting with white crystal “blossoms.”

A Mammoth Impression

See how Beatriz Inglessis, a scientific illustrator and visual artist, captured the bones of Ice Age animals in Japanese woodcut prints.

In the new exhibition, Orcas: Our Shared Future, visitors can immerse themselves in art inspired by killer whales—sculptures, masks, textiles, and prints —beckoning humans into the deeply powerful world of these cunning marine mammals.

A woman with short gray hair and glasses next to a model orca

Keiko’s Tooth: A Killer Whale, a Movie Star, and the Hidden Power of Museum Collections

Assistant Mammalogy Collections Manager Amanda Killian on finding the Free Willy star's tooth and the ever-growing value of natural history museum collections

Native CA insects arranged into a mandala

New Study More Than Triples the Estimates of Insect Species From 6 Million to 20 Million

Ground-breaking study explodes the number of estimated insects, emphasizing the need for conservation and natural history collections

Sean Campbell in a purple t-shirt, with fossils in the background

Day in the Life: Excavations Manager at the La Brea Tar Pits

Join Sean Campbell Behind the Scenes at La Brea Tar Pits

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Head of a dinosaur like creature on a black background

Discover Labrujasuchus expectatus, a Bipedal, Toothless, Crocodile Relative From Triassic Ghost Ranch, New Mexico

The newly described ‘Witch Croc’—Labrujasuchus expectatus—from Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, highlights the weirdness of life during the dawn of the dinosaurs and the legacy and ongoing discoveries at an iconic site 20 years into excavation

Saul Becker looking at a diorama, of horned animals against a yellow background, through glass

Meet Saul Becker

Take a behind-the-scenes look at his installation for Reframing Dioramas

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A high school building with the words 'San Pedro Pirates' surrounding an image of a pirate mascot on the building. Signs of construction surround the building

Fossils Under San Pedro High School Reveal a Pleistocene Beach in a Miocene Sea

Discover some of the last fossils and the lasting impact of the bone beds beneath San Pedro High School

A woman in a maroon ball cap holds a bright red-headed and yellow bird

Fly the Bird Migration Super Highway at Bear Divide Banding Station

Discover the spectacle and the science happening at Bear Divide Banding Station