Exhibitions

Microbial Life: A Universe at the Edge of Sight

Explore the fascinating lives of microbes in this exhibit.
Sea Creatures in Glass

Featuring glass jellyfish and anemones, octopus, tentacled squid, and more
Glass Flowers

See one of Harvard's most famous treasures, the Glass Flowers
The Rockefeller Beetles

This exhibit features hundreds of specimens from Rockefeller’s collection
Romer Hall of Vertebrate Paleontology

This exhibition showcases major milestones in the evolution of vertebrates
Earth & Planetary Sciences

This gallery displays thousands of rare minerals and sparkling gemstones, including a 1,600-pound amethyst geode

You won’t find exhibits like these anywhere else in New England. Comprehensive in scope, yet intimate in scale, the museum presents a rare glimpse at the exotic and a fresh look at the familiar.

Africa

Visitors will see impressive mounted specimens of African wildlife...

Arthropods: Creatures That Rule

Featuring hands-on activities, dramatic specimen displays, colorful video and graphics, and even live animals, this exhibition draws on the latest...

Asia

This gallery features mounted wildlife specimens from Asia. It includes a rare Indian rhinoceros, Siberian and Bengal tigers, and a cheetah.

Birds of the World

Boasting over 10,000 species, birds are the most diverse land vertebrates on the planet, surpassing the biological diversity of...

Cenozoic Mammals

The Cenozoic Era, also known as the Age of Mammals, was marked by the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

Central and South America

This gallery features mounted wildlife specimens from South America, including a jaguar, tapir, sloth, and giant armadillo...

Climate Change

Explore the past, present, and future of climate, engage with the new simulation globe, consider the facts, and draw your own conclusions.

Earth & Planetary Sciences

This gallery displays thousands of rare minerals and sparkling gemstones in both rough and cut examples...

Evolution

Chimpanzee in Evolution exhibit This exhibit invites visitors to examine the fossil, anatomical, and genetic evidence that all life is connected through a shared evolutionary history.

Two strawberries, one covered in mold, the second one is rotting. Fruits in Decay is a new special exhibit in the Glass Flowers gallery that explores blight, rot, and other diseases on summer fruits.

Glass Flowers

One of the museum’s most famous treasures is the internationally acclaimed Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass...

Great Mammal Hall

The Great Mammal Hall, a two-story gallery, some 60 feet long by 40 feet wide, is the most dramatic gallery in the museum.

Lily Simonson: Painting the Deep

This exhibit presents six original mural-sized paintings that literally glow with luminescent pigments and together create an immersive visual experience, giving form to a hidden alien universe.

Marine Life

This exhibit will immerse visitors in the astounding diversity and dynamic interplay among animals in marine communities just off local shores.

Microbial Life

Microbial Life Winogradsky Scott Chimileski This exhibit takes visitors on a journey into this fascinating, invisible realm, where bacteria and other microbes bustle about their lives, interacting with one another and with organisms of all sizes in every corner of the globe.

New England Forests

New England Forests in the Zofnass Family Gallery is a multi-media exhibition that explores the natural history and ecology of our regional forests...

Orb-Weavers

This special exhibit in the Arthropods Gallery that will examine the evolution of the orb web and explore how capture strategies used by its arachnid builders have shaped web design.

The Rockefeller Beetles

Rockefeller Beetles main exhibit page The Rockefeller Beetles will feature hundreds of specimens from Rockefeller’s collection and recount the story of a man whose childhood pursuit grew into a lifelong passion.