Collections and Biodiversity
The Academy has more than 19 million specimens, all carefully documented and well-preserved for future generations. They serve as the foundation for an active research program that continues to focus on the critical environmental issues of our time, ranging from evolution and biodiversity to human health and climate change.
From informing global conservation strategies to deepening our understanding of the species, collections hold answers to countless questions, including some we have not yet begun to ask. Scientific collections are enduring records of the natural world, carefully preserving specimens that embody data from specific moments in time. In some cases, collections contain the only existing historical data for scientists studying evolutionary history.
To build the Academy’s collections, our scientists have forged isolated rapids to collect fish; risked polar bears to scour Arctic rocks for fossils no one has ever seen before; endured the steady drone of highway traffic and beating sun — to mention a fraction of their recent adventures. After processing and carefully documenting these specimens, they share their discoveries through teaching, Academy programs, publications and online, enabling colleagues, students, visitors and members to gain further insight into life on Earth and how to sustain it in the future.
Explore the Collections
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Diatoms are water-dwelling microscopic photosynthetic organisms—algae—with elaborate glass shells. They are tiny plants that live in beautiful class houses in water.
Marina Potapova/ANS
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This shell is called the Paper Nautilus, but the animal that makes it is actually an octopus that lives in the open ocean. The shell is only made by females, and its function is to protect the animal’s eggs until they hatch.
Paul Callomon/ANS
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This freshwater, ray-finned fish is found in the Amazon River basin in Brazil.
Mark Sabaj/ANS
Our areas of research
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Birds
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Fishes
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Insects
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Invertebrate Fossils
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General Invertebrates
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Mammals
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Diatoms
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Mollusks
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Plants
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Reptiles & Amphibians
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Vertebrate Fossils
Related Journal Articles
From the Field to the Collections
From the Field to the Collections
Head to the field with entomologist Jon Gelhaus to collect crane flies and then see how they are prepared to be added to the Academy's entomology collection.
Science is the tool that helps us understand how the world operates, it helps us understand how we connect with nature and how we connect with the universe. It provides the knowledge and critical thinking to make informed decisions not only about the environment, but also about everything else.
Mariangeles Arce H.
Executive Director for the Center of Systematic Biology and Evolution