1. New research out of the American Museum of Natural History today is the first to provide definitive proof that green algae eat bacteria.

    The finding offers a glimpse at how scientists think early organisms acquired free-living chloroplasts, the structures responsible for converting light into food. This event is thought to be a critical first step in the evolution of photosynthetic algae and land plants, which helped raise oxygen levels in Earth’s atmosphere and paved the way for the rise of animals.

    Keep reading here. 

  2. While much of the Eastern seaboard is getting prepared for the coming of the 17-year periodical cicadas, Manhattanites may miss the show. (These cicadas have virtually never been recorded on this urban island.) But starting Wednesday, May 22, you can see periodical cicadas on the Upper West Side, here at the Museum. A newly restored display, first exhibited in 1912, will be on view in the Hall of Biodiversity, on the Museum’s first floor. Outside of Manhattan, cicadas are likely to make real-life appearances in New York City’s other boroughs, says Museum entomologist Lou Sorkin, who has been keeping up with the local emergences. “There have been reports from Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and of course Staten Island in recent weeks,” he reports.

    While much of the Eastern seaboard is getting prepared for the coming of the 17-year periodical cicadas, Manhattanites may miss the show. (These cicadas have virtually never been recorded on this urban island.)

    But starting Wednesday, May 22, you can see periodical cicadas on the Upper West Side, here at the Museum. A newly restored display, first exhibited in 1912, will be on view in the Hall of Biodiversity, on the Museum’s first floor.

    Outside of Manhattan, cicadas are likely to make real-life appearances in New York City’s other boroughs, says Museum entomologist Lou Sorkin, who has been keeping up with the local emergences. “There have been reports from Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and of course Staten Island in recent weeks,” he reports.

  3. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! This image comes from the Research Library’s Lantern Slide Collection:Yvette Borup Andrews, wife of explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, feeding bears in Yun Nan Teng-yeuh, China, on the Asiatic Zoological Expedition (1916-1917).See more photos from the Museum’s archives here.

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! This image comes from the Research Library’s Lantern Slide Collection:

    Yvette Borup Andrews, wife of explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, feeding bears in Yun Nan Teng-yeuh, China, on the Asiatic Zoological Expedition (1916-1917).

    See more photos from the Museum’s archives here.

  4. Did you know? Whales’ flippers, or pectoral fins, share bone structure with the human arm and hand. In fact, the bones of cetacean flippers are the same kinds of bones as in the human arm, with an upper arm bone, two forearm bones, and hand, wrist, and finger bones. In whales, fingers are elongated and may have additional bones.Read more on whales’ amazing adaptations here. 

    Did you know? Whales’ flippers, or pectoral fins, share bone structure with the human arm and hand. 

    In fact, the bones of cetacean flippers are the same kinds of bones as in the human arm, with an upper arm bone, two forearm bones, and hand, wrist, and finger bones. In whales, fingers are elongated and may have additional bones.

    Read more on whales’ amazing adaptations here. 

  5. More than a century ago, American bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana), originally from the eastern and central United States, were introduced into the American West in hopes that they could be farmed for food. Although the farming efforts failed, the bullfrog adapted to man-made ponds and waterways and is now a threat to native species of fish, snakes, birds, and other frogs—some of them endangered. See an American bullfrog in Frogs: A Chorus of Colors. 

    More than a century ago, American bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana), originally from the eastern and central United States, were introduced into the American West in hopes that they could be farmed for food. Although the farming efforts failed, the bullfrog adapted to man-made ponds and waterways and is now a threat to native species of fish, snakes, birds, and other frogs—some of them endangered.

    See an American bullfrog in Frogs: A Chorus of Colors. 

  6. In 2001, the Museum’s famous blue whale model did not look as it does today. First constructed in the mid-1960s, the model was based on photographs of a female blue whale that had been found dead in 1925. At the time, little was known about what blue whales looked like in the wild. By the time the Hall of Ocean Life closed for renovation in 2002, Museum artists had many photographs and footage of live whales on which to base their work. They flattened the model’s once-overly bulging eyes, accurately redesigned the whale’s blowholes, and tapered the tail. Using about 25 gallons of cobalt and cerulean blue paint, the team also recolored and respotted the grayish blue whale.  When the Irma and Paul Milstein Hall of Ocean Life reopened in 2003, the newly renovated gallery was transformed. Come celebrate the 10th anniversary of this beloved hall on Sunday, May 19, at the family-friendly Milstein Science Series: Whales.

    In 2001, the Museum’s famous blue whale model did not look as it does today. First constructed in the mid-1960s, the model was based on photographs of a female blue whale that had been found dead in 1925. At the time, little was known about what blue whales looked like in the wild.

    By the time the Hall of Ocean Life closed for renovation in 2002, Museum artists had many photographs and footage of live whales on which to base their work. They flattened the model’s once-overly bulging eyes, accurately redesigned the whale’s blowholes, and tapered the tail. Using about 25 gallons of cobalt and cerulean blue paint, the team also recolored and respotted the grayish blue whale. 

    When the Irma and Paul Milstein Hall of Ocean Life reopened in 2003, the newly renovated gallery was transformed. Come celebrate the 10th anniversary of this beloved hall on Sunday, May 19, at the family-friendly Milstein Science Series: Whales.

  7. Found in Central and South America, dart-poison frogs like this blue dart-poison frog, Dendrobates tinctorius, are mostly diurnal—that is, active during the day. Found in forests of Venezuela and Suriname, these cobalt beauties are tiny—less than 2 inches in length. They are also poisonous—oozing toxins out of skin glands. By eating invertebrates like mites, spiders, beetles, and ants, dart-poison frogs in the wild obtain certain alkaloids which they transform into those toxins. Meanwhile, in Frogs: A Chorus of Colors, the dart-poison frogs are fed a different, non-toxin-creating diet, one of fruit-flies, bean beetles, and crickets.

    Found in Central and South America, dart-poison frogs like this blue dart-poison frog, Dendrobates tinctorius, are mostly diurnal—that is, active during the day. Found in forests of Venezuela and Suriname, these cobalt beauties are tiny—less than 2 inches in length.

    They are also poisonous—oozing toxins out of skin glands. By eating invertebrates like mites, spiders, beetles, and ants, dart-poison frogs in the wild obtain certain alkaloids which they transform into those toxins.

    Meanwhile, in Frogs: A Chorus of Colors, the dart-poison frogs are fed a different, non-toxin-creating diet, one of fruit-flies, bean beetles, and crickets.

  8. This Saturday, the live-animal exhibition Frogs: A Chorus of Colors opens at the Museum. With more than 200 live frogs from around the world, the exhibition hints at the remarkable diversity that exists among more than 6,200 frog species around the globe.

    Meet two colorful and charismatic species you can see in the exhibition: the tomato frog and the blue dart-poison frog.

    Vote for your favorite frog here and enter to win two tickets to Frogs: A Chorus of Colors!

  9. Arctic waters are home to many amazing animal species, including such whales as narwhals, belugas, and graceful bowheads. Today, researchers are using the travels and travails of these still-mysterious Arctic whales to illuminate the changing nature of Arctic sea ice as Earth warms.  On Thursday, May 30, join a bevy of explorers and researchers at the Museum for a special World Science Festival event: How Whales are Unlocking Arctic Secrets. Image: Laura Morse/Courtesy of NOAA

    Arctic waters are home to many amazing animal species, including such whales as narwhals, belugas, and graceful bowheads. Today, researchers are using the travels and travails of these still-mysterious Arctic whales to illuminate the changing nature of Arctic sea ice as Earth warms. 

    On Thursday, May 30, join a bevy of explorers and researchers at the Museum for a special World Science Festival event: How Whales are Unlocking Arctic Secrets.

    Image: Laura Morse/Courtesy of NOAA

  10. It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives! A botanical sketch used in creating the Grant caribou diorama in the Hall of North American Mammals, which first opened in 1942.  Pictured: Buck brush and fire weed (c) AMNH Library

    It’s Tuesday’s peek into the archives!

    A botanical sketch used in creating the Grant caribou diorama in the Hall of North American Mammals, which first opened in 1942. 

    Pictured: Buck brush and fire weed

    (c) AMNH Library