With a name that means “terrible lizards”, you would expect dinosaurs to be terrifying and unfeeling brutes. Recent research, however, has revealed that even the most fearsome giants might have had a softer and more compassionate side, especially when it came to parenting. One dinosaur, in particular, has shown strong evidence for providing extended child care.
Lecture – Cultivating the Next Generation of Female Space Pioneers by Carolyn Sumners Women have played a vital role in the U.S. space program since its inception in the 1940’s. While women were once considered unfit for space travel, the most recent NASA class is 50 percent female. As we begin celebrating the 50th […]
Lecture – New Technology in Fossil Prep by David Temple Recent advances in fossil preparation have led scientists to uncover incredible detail in fossils that until now where not thought possible. HMNS paleontologist David Temple will overview these new technologies and the amazing findings they have brought to science–including soft tissue, microscopic blood cells, […]
Lecture – Beauty and Morphology of Insects by Erin Mills Characteristics and adaptations of these unique and misunderstood creatures will be explored by Erin Mills, Director of the Cockrell Butterfly Center. Living exotic beetles, giant katydids, walking sticks, hissing cockroaches, beautiful butterflies and other exciting arthropods will compliment this special presentation and tour of the […]
Was it inevitable that mammals would rule the world after the dinosaurs went extinct? The rise of mammals is often depicted as a pretty smooth transition, but in reality things were a little more complicated. In the wake of the end Cretaceous extinction birds, reptiles and mammals all began to split and diversify to exploit ecological […]
A trilobite changed my life. I know what you’re thinking, “Say what? That’s just crazy!” No, it’s true. Please let me explain. I’ve worked at the Houston Museum of Natural Science for close to half my life. Truth be told, the Museum has been a part of my life even longer than that, […]
Often times the most unfortunate catastrophes can produce the finest, most well preserved specimens for scientists to uncover. Just think of Pompeii: a deadly volcanic eruption buried a Roman city in scolding ash, and in the process created a veritable time capsule for Archaeologists a millennium later to investigate. But it not just archaeologists that […]
In my years as a tour guide here at HMNS I encountered a lot of good questions. Most of the time the simplest questions were the best ones, like “what is a dinosaur?“. It’s a simple question but it has a complicated answer. For most people, the only prerequisite for being a dinosaur is being […]
The controversy about whether famous dinosaurs had feathers has been raging for a while now. We’ve known that some dinosaurs had feathers ever since Archaeopteryx was discovered in 1861, but more recent discoveries of the presence of feather-like structures on larger dinosaurs ( like Lane the Triceratops here at HMNS) that are more distantly related to […]
Who wants to see a seven foot long scorpion? Given the option, most people would respond either with”that’s impossible!” or “no!”, but here at HMNS seven foot arthropods are not only possible, they’re something to get excited about! Unfortunately, although our new specimen is an arthropod, and is about five feet long, it […]
