Fifty-five million years ago, a group of hoofed mammals began a slow move from shore to sea, in time evolving a set of extraordinary features to thrive in their new environment. Today’s whales share many anatomical traits with other mammals, but the unique adaptations of species such as sperm whales illustrate how organisms can transform over time as they carve out their place on the planet.

Museum Research Associate Lowell W. Dingus, Ph.D., takes viewers behind the scenes to a "library of dinosaur bones" and explains how these fossils are stored, in a video. 

A story from the Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast—roughly 20 diverse communities united by a common language—inspired this exquisite carved feast dish, which is featured in the special exhibition Whales: Giants of the Deep, now open at the American Museum of Natural History.

 Mark A. Norell, chair of the Division of Paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History, addresses the question: How long were dinosaurs' lifespans?