The new NC Museum of Natural Sciences at Contentnea Creek is a 400-acre outdoor learning center in Grifton.

NC Museum of Natural Sciences establishing two new branches in Pitt County

November 24, 2020

The new NC Museum of Natural Sciences at Contentnea Creek is a 400-acre outdoor learning center in Grifton. Raleigh, N.C. – Through an innovative partnership between the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and A Time for Science, the Museum is establishing two new branches in Pitt County. The NC Museum of Natural Sciences at… Read More >


Pixie cups, a type of squamulose lichen.

Nature Now! Liking Lichens

November 19, 2020

Pixie cups: a type of squamulose lichen. I like lichens! Anybody who has been on a hike with me knows that. I am quick to fall on my hands and knees to marvel at some lichen along the trail that most people would walk by and never see. I am not so quick to get… Read More >


Eastern Box Turtle

What’s THAT? Ask a Naturalist!

November 18, 2020

Eastern Box Turtle | Rat-tailed Maggot | Batfish | Mystery Crystals | Glowworms | Pokeweed | Grass Carp Teeth | Eastern Dobsonfly | Armored Mudballs | Marine Bristle Worm | Black Widow Spiders | Clematis | Hawks at Your Birdfeeder | Fossil Shark Teeth | Copperhead vs. Ratsnake | Baby Orb Weaver Spiders | Hammerhead… Read More >


Artist's rendering of battling Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops horridus. Illustration: Anthony Hutchings. © Friends of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to receive the “Dueling Dinosaurs”

November 17, 2020

Artist’s rendering of battling tyrannosaurs and Triceratops horridus. Illustration: Anthony Hutchings. © Friends of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. Click image to enlarge. Museum will launch global paleontology education and research project featuring “America’s most spectacular fossil” [Raleigh, N.C. — Nov. 17, 2020] — The nonprofit organization Friends of the North Carolina Museum of… Read More >


How Do Click Beetles Jump?

New video: How does the click beetle “click” jump work?

November 10, 2020

  Dr. Adrian Smith, Head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab, has posted a new video showing close up how the click beetle jump works. Dr. Smith says, “The spring-loaded “click” of a click beetle is one of the most unique ways of jumping in the insect world! Once I heard about how… Read More >