NEWS

From Cretaceous crabs to a big mighty female Carolina redhorse, Museum collections have unlimited stories to tell. Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the ichthyology, paleontology and mammalogy collections with Dr. Adrian Smith, head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Lab and creator of the YouTube channel Ant Lab. “I think the coolest part of… Read More >

When’s the last time you watched a two-toed sloth have a physical? Or saw a tumor being removed from a copperhead? These are just a couple of the types of medical procedures that could be happening on any day at the Museum. Because along with housing enough live animals to be considered a mid-size zoo,… Read More >

An international research team, including North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences paleontologist Chinzorig Tsogtbaatar, has discovered a new species of therizinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Bayanshiree Formation (~96-90 million years old) in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The dinosaur was named Duonychus tsogtbaatari, in honor of Chinzorig’s father, influential Mongolian paleontologist Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar. Unlike other… Read More >

On Monday morning, May 31, 1926, H.H. Brimley, director of what was then known as the North Carolina State Museum, answered his phone. On the other end of the line a faint but very excited voice announced: “Humphrey talking! From Swansboro! Big fish — 1,500 pounds — 7½ feet long — nothing like it ever… Read More >

When monitoring the health of mammal populations, scientists often use camera traps to observe the animals in their habitats. But weasels are so sneaky they’re rarely caught on camera – leaving scientists with questions about this population of predators. “We’re a little worried about the weasels,” says Roland Kays, a research professor at North Carolina… Read More >