The architecture of deep time
Surviving the great dyings
Ancient climates and changing worlds
The library of 148 million secrets
YOUR GOAL
Master of Earth before us in the Smithsonian deep time vaults
streetspirit The Smithsonian Institution keeps its massive scientific collection in restricted research vaults.
streetspirit The Architecture of Deep Time
The planet lived before we came (oh yeah!) / Written in the bone and stone (so deep!)
streetspirit Fossilized stromatolites represent the earliest physical evidence of life on Earth.
streetspirit The Archaeopteryx fossil shows a transition of feathers and skeletal features.
streetspirit Dome-shaped stromatolites covered in dark microbial mats rise from a sandy seabed
streetspirit Sort fossils into rock layers to discover how Earth survived before humans existed.
Deep time: Author John McPhee coined this famous phrase in 1981 to help us grasp the billions of years of Earth's history now preserved in the Smithsonian's vaults.
The multimillion-year time scale of Earth's geologic history. The Smithsonian's renovated Beaux-Arts hall reopened in 2019 to display this vast geologic history.
How old are the fossilized stromatolites from Western Australia in the Smithsonian's collection?
streetspirit Fossilized lake beds from Wyoming reveal a highly detailed 50-million-year-old ecosystem.
streetspirit Feather impressions and a dinosaur-like skeleton stand out against the Bavarian limestone.
Ancient raindrops: Fossilized rain imprints from 2.7 billion years ago help scientists calculate the density of Earth's early atmosphere.
Where was the famous Archaeopteryx fossil, which connects dinosaurs to birds, discovered?
streetspirit The Smithsonian's Archaeopteryx cast shows the transitional moment when dinosaurs evolved wings.
Who coined the term 'deep time' in 1981 to describe Earth's multi-billion-year history?
What evolutionary group do modern birds belong to, as proven by fossils in the Smithsonian?