L.A. Natural History Museum

The L.A. natural history museum is quite small, particularly when compared to the British one, but it was good all the same. There was a butterfly pavilion when we went with lots of species native to the US as well as some exotics.

This is a Spicebush swallowtail (Pterourus troilus):

And this is a Julia (Dryas iulia):

The museum focused on north american species, as you might expect for a county museum. They had a great exhibition showing the work occurring on a T. rex fossil that is being prepared for display. My favourite piece, however, was not part of a gallery or exhibition at all, it was in one of the entrance halls. It was an oarfish (Regalecus sp.). It was found floating off Catalina island in the late '70s nearly dead.


It's a huge fish and the species is thought to be the source of stories of sea serpents. They're beautifully coloured when alive but preservation causes them to become dull. The most interesting thing to me was the shape of the pelvic fins which were long and thin with a rounded end, a bit like a peacock's eye feather.

I really enjoyed the museum and would recommend going just for the oarfish!

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