Online Exhibit
Rare, Beautiful & Fascinating
Collections held by natural history museums are like a library of life, with millions of objects that document change through time in the environment and in life itself.
Learn more
Amphibians & Reptiles
View all Amphibians & Reptiles
Online Guide
Florida Snake Identification
Learn about Florida's snakes before you encounter them or identify the snake you encountered with our visual guide.
Online Guide
Florida Frog Calls
Learn to recognize many of Florida’s frogs by their calls. Audio recordings of many of Florida’s frogs by voice.
Video Story
The Florida Cottonmouth: More Bark Than Bite?
Rethink the Florida Cottonmouth's undeserved reputation and find out why these snakes are so important in their habitats.
Research News
Best way to learn about island biology? Live on an island
Scientists invited college undergraduates to Seahorse Key for a taste of fieldwork, including terrapins!
Birds
View all Birds
Stories & Articles
Five Facts: Limpkins in Florida
A native Florida bird with an increasing population. Once you hear the sound, you'll quickly learn to recognize their calls! Limpkins!
Stories & Articles
How we stuff a turkey at the Florida Museum
Learn how bird preparator extraordinaire Andy Kratter stuff an ocellated turkey specimen.
Online Guide
Florida Bird Songs
Listen to many of Florida's species of birds in our online sound guide, including popular and rare birds, and the extinct Dusky Seaside Sparrow.
Online Guide
Southeastern U.S. Birds Gallery
A photographic guide to many of the birds of the Southeastern United States.
Butterflies
View all Butterflies
Online Guide
Florida’s Wildflowers & Butterflies
Two useful guides for butterflies and wildflowers in Florida. Discover which wildflowers to grow to attract your favorite butterflies.
Exhibit Spotlight
Butterflies of the Rainforest Exhibit ID Guide
Colorful photographs of Lepidoptera species found in the Butterfly Rainforest exhibit since it opened in 2004.
Online Exhibit
Endangered Butterflies in a Changing Climate
Risks and challenges facing the Miami Blue Butterfly, one of the most critically endangered butterflies.
Online Resource
Frequently Asked Butterfly Questions
Questions about butterflies and moths? We’ve got your butterfly basics covered!
Environment & Ecology
View all Environment & Ecology
Online Exhibit
Women of the Everglades
In the early 1900s, three influential Florida women, inspired by three different causes, laid the foundation for Everglades conservation.
Online Exhibit
Earth’s Forecast: Hurricanes and Climate Change
Climate change is affecting the nature of Earth’s most powerful storms, increasing their destructive potential.
Online Exhibit
Hope for Humpbacks
Get an up-close look into the lives of humpback whales and the detailed process of rearticulating Humphrey, the Museum’s humpback whale skeleton.
Online Resource
South Florida Aquatic Environments
An introduction for K-12 students to South Florida aquatic environments with a focus on three imperiled ecosystems.
Fishes & Sharks
View all Fishes & Sharks
Online Exhibit
Inner Beauty
Museum technology is shifting how fish skeletons are processed providing more accessibility for research, education, outreach and global collaboration.
Online Resource
Fish Species Profiles
Browse species profiles of fish, sharks, rays, sawfish, seahorses, and more. Search by scientific name, common name, or family.
Online Guide
Fishes in the Fresh Waters of Florida Gallery
Explore Florida's freshwater fishes with live images, key characteristics for field identification and habitat description.
Online Resource
International Shark Attack File
The world’s only scientifically documented, comprehensive database of all known shark attacks.
Insects & Arachnids
View all Insects & Arachnids
Stories & Articles
Spooky natural history
Florida’s biodiverse ecosystems harbor some gruesome discoveries — from shape-shifting fungi to cicada killer wasps.
Online Exhibit
Bark Beetle Calligraphy
Can insects create art? In huge numbers, bark beetles inscribe their life stories onto dead wood. Is it art?
Online Exhibit
Colorful Dancing Spiders
Discover the vibrant world of these tiny spiders and the Arachnologists' (spider scientists) research on these arachnids’ surprisingly good vision.
Stories & Articles
Five Facts: Bees in Florida
Florida is home to over 300 species of bees, including 29 species that are only found here in our state!
Invertebrates
View all Invertebrates
Articles & News
Get to know Florida’s fossil pearls
Have you ever wondered where these iconic minerals come from, what makes a pearl a true pearl, and how a pearl can become a fossil?
Stories & Articles
Beware the Underwater Vampires
The sea is full of vampires — animals whose sustenance comes from the blood of other animals. Check out these five bloodsuckers!
Stories & Articles
Five Facts: Barnacles
Although they were once thought to be related to snails, it turns out that barnacles are actually related to crabs.
Stories & Articles
Five Facts: Portuguese man-of-war
Many people think this iconic and venomous organism is a jellyfish but its biological story is even more intriguing.
Mammals
View all Mammals
Stories & Articles
Five Facts: Bats in Florida
Florida has 13 recognized native species of bats, though at least 20 species have been found in the state. Some are common across the state, while some live in only a small area or migrate here for part of the year.
Online Exhibit
Gorillas in the Mist
Explore Dian Fossey’s Mountain Gorilla research through the lens of Bob Campbell’s photographs.
Online Exhibit
Hope for Humpbacks
Get an up-close look into the lives of humpback whales and the detailed process of rearticulating Humphrey, the Museum’s humpback whale skeleton.
Stories & Articles
Natural history Valentine’s Day Cards
From wasps to mammoths to voles, celebrate your love for life on Earth with these five natural history Valentine's Day stories.
Plants
View all PlantsOnline Guide
Florida’s Wildflowers & Butterflies
Two useful guides for butterflies and wildflowers in Florida. Discover which wildflowers to grow to attract your favorite butterflies.
Stories & Articles
Five Facts: Air potatoes in Florida
It grows fast and it's a clone! This invasive vine can be found through most of Florida and our hero might be a tiny red beetle.
Research News
Rediscovered watercolor collection features hundreds of Florida plants
Forgotten for decades, a rediscovered WWII-era watercolor collection features hundreds of Florida plants.
Stories & Articles
Spooky natural history
Florida’s biodiverse ecosystems harbor some gruesome discoveries — from shape-shifting fungi to cicada killer wasps.
Biological Museum Collections
View all Biological Museum Collections
Museum Collection
Amphibians & Reptiles (Herpetology)
The largest herpetology collection in the southeastern United States & among the largest in North America.
Museum Collection
Birds (Ornithology)
Approximately the fifth largest bird collection in the world, this collection contains bird skins, bird eggs, and bird sounds.
Museum Collection
Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
This collection contains more than 10 million specimens, widely used by a global community of students and scientists.
Museum Collection
Fishes & Sharks (Ichthyology)
This collection contains approximately 2,450,650 specimens, representing more than 9,000 species.