Join us for an animated adventure through prehistoric seas as we follow a family of Dolichorhynchops (a sea creature approximately the size of a dolphin with a long snout), informally known as "Dollies," as they travel these ancient waters. During their journey the Dollies encounter many other astonishing sea creatures including Platecarups, a lizard-like reptile that swallows its prey whole like snakes; Styxosaurus, with a 20-footlong neck and paddle-like fins as large as an adult human; and the gigantic, top-of-the-food-chain Tylosaurus. The film also visits paleontological digs around the world and shows how and what scientists know about these unique prehistoric sea creatures.

Earth’s climate is changing–and increasingly people around the world are realizing that this change is not a distant threat, but an imminent danger. Climate change is already having significant impacts on some regions, and these consequences could intensify in the future: violent storms, droughts, deadly heat waves, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, ocean acidification. Explore the science, history, and impacts of climate change, the causes for alarm, the reasons for hope, and the ways in which individuals, communities and nations can reduce their carbon footprints with exhibit co-curator, Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University and long-time participant in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Although much maligned in popular media, leeches have begun to regain considerable interest from the biomedical community. This diverse group of annelid worms was once used in medicine from everything from headaches to cholera and today remains the choice tool for alleviating blood clots following microsurgical reattachment of small body parts such as fingers or ears. Go behind the scenes with Mark Siddall, Assistant Curator, Invertebrate Zoology, and learn about his research into the evolutionary patterns of both blood-feeding and non-blood-feeding leeches and see how knowledge gained from his projects may one day be used to develop anti-coagulants and tumor inhibitors in humans.

Dance the night away at this highly anticipated black–tie event featuring dinner, dessert, dancing, and a luxury silent auction set in several of the Museum’s spectacular halls.

Extreme Mammals will bring to light extraordinary extinct mammals with features so outrageous one would hardly believe they ever existed. These extinct mammals and their living relatives provide a fascinating entrée into the world of adaptations, evolution and biological processes over millions of years. Come explore all elements of the extreme–from size, locomotion, interesting physical traits, and reproduction, to the varying environments these species call home–the exhibition will explain what is average, or “normal” for various kinds of mammals–and in comparison, what we consider to be “extreme.”

Engage with some of the Museum’s finest minds at an exclusive cocktail reception with Museum curators.

Even though many people can tell you that the Sun is a star, how many really understand what that means? Who contemplates their origins in stellar furnaces or grasps their daily dependence on the Sun’s energy? Do people associate the stars in the night sky with our everyday Sun? Join the Junior Council and a Museum Astrophysicist on a voyage through the Museum’s new space show–illustrating the source of energy and heavy elements we depend on, and following stars over their lifetimes as they are created, evolve, and die.