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Ocean Science and Collections
The Giant Squid
There will be many strange and wonderful animals to meet in the Ocean Hall, but perhaps none as mysterious and thrilling as the giant squid. Not seen alive by human eyes until just a few years ago, the giant squid has spawned fantastic stories and myths of huge, hungry, many-tentacled sea creatures.
Marine Science at the Smithsonian
Why will the Ocean Hall be built at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History? You may already know that the Museum attracts nearly six million visitors each year and reaches another 12 million online. Did you know that the Smithsonian is also a world-renowned center for marine science, and has been conducting research in the ocean for over 160 years? While researchers have learned a lot about the ocean’s importance to all life, the marine world remains largely unexplored. Research from the Smithsonian’s Marine Science Program will also provide policy-makers with critical information about which creatures and ecosystems need to be protected.
Meet a Basilosaurus
In the Ocean Hall, you will have a chance to meet several ocean-going precursors to and relatives of modern whales, including the mighty Basilosaurus. Originally given this name – which means “king lizard” – because it was mistaken for a giant sea serpent, Basilosaurus was a creature more than 55 feet (16 meters) long.
To See a Coelacanth
The coelacanth is a great mystery to scientists. A fish growing to more than six feet long, it was long thought to have gone extinct about 65 million years ago – disappearing around the same time the dinosaurs left the scene.
Trilobite Collection
What exactly is a trilobite, you may ask. Distantly related to modern lobsters, scorpions and insects, trilobites were among the earliest arthropods – animals with segmented bodies, jointed legs, and an exoskeleton. Flourishing during the Cambrian Period (542 million to 488 million years ago), early trilobite diversity was extraordinary.
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