NEWS

The state record snapping turtle on exhibit in 2015. Photo: Karen Swain/NCMNS. After a lengthy battle with myriad health issues, the largest specimen of Chelydra serpentina (Common Snapping Turtle) known from North Carolina was humanely euthanized by the Museum’s Veterinary Sciences team on January 4, 2022. The specimen, a large (69.8 pounds) and probably very… Read More >

Panoramic view from the top of Rich Mountain Bald (within Tater Hill Plant Preserve). Grandfather Mountain and the ski slopes can be seen in the background. Photo: Matt C. Estep. By Sophia Kirn, Senior at Appalachian State University and Naturalist Center Intern As a student at Appalachian State University, one of the biggest pastimes I… Read More >

Dr. Adrian Smith, Head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Lab, is out with a new video! The YouTube sensation filmed slow motion flight and time-lapse sequences of tropical butterflies emerging from their pupae, and taking flight, and gives a behind-the-scenes tour of our walk-in tropical dry forest exhibit. Check out naturalsciences.org/planyourvisit for info… Read More >

Artistic rendering of a protoplanetary disk around a forming star, in combination with future planets and disk “leftovers”: the asteroids and comets. Disks can take at least one million years to form a planetary system. Credit: NASA/FUSE/Lynette Cook. How unusual is the Earth compared to other planets in the Galaxy? What are the chemical pathways… Read More >

Dr. Adrian Smith, Head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab, has produced a new video of insects in flight inspired by a pioneering book from the mid-70s. The video also celebrates Smith reaching 100,000 subscribers to his Ant Lab YouTube channel! A viewer sent Smith a copy of “Borne on the Wind:… Read More >