Exhibits

Changing Exhibits

Brook Trout by and American Shad by Flick Ford.

Beguiled by the Wild:
The Art of Charley Harper

December 10, 2011–February 26, 2012

Known for his highly stylized wildlife prints, posters, and book illustrations, American artist Charley Harper developed a strong love of nature as a child growing up in West Virginia. This fascination is clear in his exhibit, Beguiled by the Wild: The Art of Charley Harper.
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logo for bicentennial exhibit

Future Changing Exhibits

The Academy at 200: The Nature of Discovery
Opens March 24, 2012

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Permanent Exhibits

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Butterflies!

Live butterflies from Central and South America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia inhabit our tropical garden. read more

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Dinosaur Hall

More than 30 dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles are represented in Dinosaur Hall. In addition, budding dinosaur hunters can search for fossils in The Big Dig or meet with fossil preparators in the Fossil Prep Lab. read more

diorama

Dioramas

More than 35 dioramas present wildlife from Africa, Asia, and North America. read more

Live Animal Center

Live Animal Center

More than 100 live animals are used for educational programs, museum presentations, and special events. See where they live when they're not working. read more

Outside In is hands-on

Outside In

Our indoor Nature Museum for Children features hands-on activities and close encounters with live animals. read more

What Eats What exhibit

More Exhibits

See Captain Cook's Cannon, Egyptian Mummies, Marveling at Mollusks, Robert Peary's flag, Science at the Academy, and What Eats What. read more

Online Exhibits

audubon bird

Audubon Bird of the Day

Every weekday, a page is turned on one of the Academy's treasures, a full elephant folio of John James Audubon's The Birds of America. See what's showing this week. read more

19th century illustration of a Chinese turtle

Digital Collection

Digital Collections features natural history illustrations and archival materials from the collections of the Academy's Library.
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Joseph Leidy

This extensive online exhibit presents the life and works of Joseph Leidy, an influential 19th Century paleontologist, anatomist, microscopist, and teacher. read more

fossil mastodon tooth

Presidential Hair Album

Peter Arvell Browne's hair albums are among the more unusual holdings of the Ewell Sale Stewart Library & Archives. One of the albums contains hair from our first presidents. read more

fossil mastodon tooth

Thomas Jefferson Fossil Collection

Charles Willson Peale's “Mammoth,” Cuvier's “Revolutions,” Buffon's “American Degeneracy,” Jefferson's “Giant Claw,” and Big Bone Lick are parts of the story behind our third president's fossil collection. read more

What am I?

Each month, we present a new image that is a detail of a larger image. Your job is to guess what it is. read more