1. Twenty-five years ago, Museum curators, including John Flynn, Frick Curator of Fossil Mammals, found fossil whale bones 6,000 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains of southern Chile.

    Flynn is an authority on the evolution of mammals, including many now-extinct land mammals in South America, and the Museum curator of Whales: Giants of the Deep. We recently spoke with Dr. Flynn about the exhibition, his fieldwork in South America, and his sightings of whales in the wild. Check out the Q&A here.

  2. Researchers have described two new ancient species of South American rodents, including the oldest known chinchilla. These specimens, among others, suggest new information about the geological history of the Andes mountains. Read on here: http://bit.ly/Mm8eKF Pictured here: The fossilized jaw of the oldest chinchillid rodent, Eoviscaccia frassinettii, which is related to the modern chinchilla (© AMNH/M. Ellison)  

    Researchers have described two new ancient species of South American rodents, including the oldest known chinchilla. These specimens, among others, suggest new information about the geological history of the Andes mountains. Read on here: http://bit.ly/Mm8eKF

    Pictured here: The fossilized jaw of the oldest chinchillid rodent, Eoviscaccia frassinettii, which is related to the modern chinchilla (© AMNH/M. Ellison)

     

  3. A Wayana feather headress in the Hall of South American Peoples, photo by Craig

    A Wayana feather headress in the Hall of South American Peoples, photo by Craig