What has hundreds of thousands of legs, survives best in the dark, and can transport humans hundreds years in the past?
Our incomparable collection of nearly 250,000 specimens, including plants, animals, fossils, and minerals.
Items in our collections are incorporated into exhibits and educational programming. In addition, our collections provide baseline data for studies of our environment, and they document how humans have changed ecosystems over time. The collections give us a window into the past, help us to understand better what we see today, and aid us in planning for the future.
Here is a quick glance at our collections by-the-numbers:
- 20,000 reptiles and amphibians
- 50,000 insects
- 60,000 shells
- 30,000 fossils
- 12,000 birds
- 2,400 eggs and nests
- 4,500 mammals
- 20,000 rocks and minerals
- 200 spiders
- Thousands of photographs, papers, letters, and field notes
A Closer Look at our Collections
- Arachnology
- Botany
- Entomology
- Herpetology
- Mammalogy
- Mineralogy
- Oology
- Ornithology
- Paleontology
- Archives and Photographs
