American Museum of Natural History

A daily dose of science from the AMNH. Central Park West at 79th St., NYC, amnh.org ➡️linktr.ee/amnh

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You won’t find this pigeon on the streets of New York City. Meet the Pink-necked Green Pigeon (Treron vernans)! This colorful bird can be found throughout Southeast Asia, where it inhabits forests. It hangs out in small flocks in the treetops, foraging mainly for fruit. Distinguishing males from females isn’t too difficult: Females lack pink necks and are mostly olive-green in color!

Photo: Yi-Kai Tea, CC BY-SA 4.0, iNaturalist

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Happy Trilobite Tuesday! For more than a century, the predominantly Eastern European genus Platylichas was recognized almost exclusively from scattered, disassociated parts. However, recent discoveries during the 21st century have uncovered complete Upper Ordovician specimens—like the example pictured here, which measures 2.8 in (7.1 cm) in length.

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🌈 Have you ever seen a prettier tree? Behold the beautiful rainbow eucalyptus (Eucalyptus deglupta).  This large evergreen grows up to about 197 ft (60 m) tall. When strips of its bark peel off, they change in color: Bark starts out in shades of green, then transitions into purple, red, and orange as time goes on. Continuous peeling helps the tree keep its trunk clear of other plants. You might spot one in the Philippines, New Guinea, Indonesia, Hawaii, or Southern California.

Photo: Gerald Corsi, iStock

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Here’s a gigantic African land snail (Lissachatina glutinosa) to brighten your day! 🐌Found in parts of eastern Africa including Malawi and Tanzania, this jumbo gastropod can grow up to 5.9 in (15 cm)—making it one of the world’s largest snails! This critter inhabits forest edges as well as river and lake shores. It’s a member of the Achatinidae family, which includes a number of similarly sized snails, some of which have become invasive species outside of their natural ranges.

Photo: Kai Joaquin, CC BY-NC 4.0, iNaturalist

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Heads up… it's Fossil Friday! In this archival image, Museum preparators work on a trio of Tyrannosaur skulls. 🦖With 4-ft- (1.2-m-) long jaws and powerful bone-crushing teeth, T. rex was one of the largest and most fearsome carnivores of all time. In fact, this dinosaur could bite with about 7,800 pounds of force (34,500 N)—the equivalent to the weight of three cars! No living animal, and few extinct ones, could rival its bite. 

Although Tyrannosaurus rex is one of the most renowned dinosaurs, few of the fossil specimens recovered by paleontologists are complete. The first partial T. rex skeleton was discovered by a curator from the Museum—the legendary Barnum Brown—and we have one of the few specimens of T. rex on public display! Fun fact: The Museum’s T. rex specimen, AMNH 5027, inspired the cover of Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park.  You can spot Tyrannosaurus rex at the Museum. Plan your visit.

Photo: Image no. 129039 / © AMNH Library

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Why the blue tongue? For this reptile, it’s a form of self defense! Meet the blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides). Found in Australia and New Guinea, this lizard can reach lengths of nearly 2 ft (61 cm). Its body is covered in overlapping scales, supported by bony plates called osteoderms, which protect it from predators. But when faced with persistent foes, the blue-tongued skink has another defense: It will open its mouth, hiss, and reveal a bold blue tongue—startling foes with a flash of vibrant color. 

Photo:  Doug Beckers, CC BY-SA 2.0, flickr

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Happy Trilobite Tuesday! This diminutive Eoharpes was uncovered from the Czech Republic’s Sarka Formation. Complete examples of this Ordovician species—which typically measure 1 in (2.5 cm) long—are infrequently found. Notice its bright color? Fossilized trilobites have been found in an array of hues. This tonal variation is mostly due to the presence of specific minerals, which can replace the animal’s calcite shell over the course of hundreds of millions of years.

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Did you know? Fireflies aren’t flies at all: they're beetles! Of all of the insects in the world, fireflies are among the few to have evolved an extraordinary language of light. Many fireflies use a system of flashes in some of the same ways we use words: to attract, to say, “Here I am,” even to deceive. They emit light from a tiny organ, called a lantern, on the underside of their abdomen, where a biochemical reaction takes place within specialized cells called photocytes. The reaction releases energy in the form of light.

Photo: Jessica Lucia, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, flickr

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Meow! It’s Caturday. Meet Geoffrey’s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi). This small wild cat can be spotted throughout parts of South America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay. It lives in an assortment of habitats like grasslands, wetlands, and savannas. On average, the feline weighs about 9.5 lbs (4.3 kg). Its diet includes small mammals, birds, and fish.

Photo: Arjan Haverkamp, CC BY-SA 2.0, flickr 

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If you’ve visited the Museum, you’re certainly familiar with today’s Fossil Friday feature: the Barosaurus and Allosaurus in the Rotunda! Rising 50 ft (15 m) above the ground, it’s the world’s tallest freestanding dinosaur mount.How does the huge skeleton of Barosaurus—whose name means “heavy reptile”—stay up? The Barosaurus is built from casts of real bone since fossils are too heavy to support in this way. The original fossils are housed in the Museum’s collections! Spot these dinosaurs and more at the Museum. Plan your visit.

Photo: D. Finnin / © AMNH

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Happy Birthday to Mary Anning, the “Mother of Paleontology!” Born on this day in 1799, she hailed from Lyme Regis on the coast of Dorset, England, and grew up collecting fossils. At age 13, she unearthed a skeleton of a giant marine reptile, one of the first ichthyosaurs. In her late twenties, she discovered Dimorphodon, the first pterosaur found outside continental Europe, on the beach cliffs at Lyme Regis. At the time, headlines celebrated Anning and her “flying dragon.” Her discovery proved that these flying reptiles were varied and had a wide range.

Image: Library of Congress

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It's time for Trilobite Tuesday! In recent years, a variety of well-preserved trilobites have been uncovered from Northern Ontario’s Silurian-age Thornloe Formation—including this species of Diacalymene, which has not yet been scientifically described. Some examples can reach more than 2.4 in (6 cm) in length.

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Armed with dagger-like claws that can grow up to 4 in (10 cm) long, the Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) can leap nearly 7 ft (2 m) high and deliver a fatal kick. Often considered the world’s most dangerous bird, this powerful animal can exceed weights of 130 lbs (59 kg) and reach heights of 6 ft (1.8 m). Despite its fearsome reputation, this typically shy species prefers to avoid human contact and can be found in the rainforests of northeastern Australia and New Guinea. 

Photo: Tiaangobius20, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

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👀 🐍Meet the vine snake (Ahaetulla prasina). Found in parts of Asia including Indonesia, China, and India, this species can grow up to 6 ft (2 m) long. You might spot this arboreal critter swaying side to side, mimicking a windblown vine. To further enhance the illusion, this species can even flick its tongue more slowly than many other snakes. Its camouflage allows it to snatch unsuspecting prey including birds, frogs, and lizards. 

Photo: Hamas Fathani, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons 

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Meet the rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus). Known as the “hummingbird of cats,” this species is one of the world’s smallest felines, reaching weights of only 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg). Primarily nocturnal, this cat uses its large eyes to hunt under the cover of darkness. It can be spotted in parts of Southeast Asia including India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

Photo: Cloudtail the Snow Leopard, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, flickr 

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It's time for Fossil Friday! Meet Cryptocleidus oxoniensis, a short-necked plesiosaur. Plesiosaurs were large marine reptiles that lived from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous. The plesiosaurs had extensive modifications to the shoulder and pelvic girdles: these elements form large, flat sheets of bone, presumably for the attachment of swimming muscles. Cryptocleidus' trunk was very rigid and short, and the short tail could only function as a rudder, leaving the limbs as its main organ of propulsion.

Photo: © AMNH 

See this prehistoric critter, and more, at the Museum! Plan your visit.

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Get to know the perentie (Varanus giganteus). This massive lizard is one of the largest in the world. It can reach lengths of 6.6 ft (2 m) or more and hails from western Australia. It prefers dry habitats and hunts for a range of critters, from birds to mammals to other lizards.

Photo: Christopher Watson, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons