Species are being recorded and found daily and some of the leading work is happening right here at LSU. The LSU Museum of Natural Sciences on campus offers a deeper look at animal research and history.

The museum highlights nine habitat dioramas designed to create the illusion of real natural scenes. The species and habitats on display are carefully curated to make visitors feel as if they are looking at specimens in their natural habitat.

Christopher Austin, worker and curator of amphibians and reptiles at the LSU Museum of Natural Science, spends his time teaching and creating the perfect experience for visitors.

“The exhibits that you see when you walk through the museum, many of those older exhibits were first put together in the 1950s about 1955 to about 1959. We have several newer exhibits as well. The specimens in the older exhibits were collected in the early 1900s up into about 1959,” Austin explained.

Museum curators use LSU-funded research to create specimens that help uncover the unknown past-and shed light on the future of natural science.

“The role of a curator here in the museum, we have 5 vertebrate curators, is to manage and maintain those specimens. So for example a preserved snake, if it’s well curated, that specimen will last 300 to 500 years,” Austin said.

Behind the exhibits, researchers test and analyze natural science to make new discoveries. So far, the museum scientists have identified a total of 165 new animal species.

“Here in the museum we have the genomics lab where we are sequencing large chunks of the genome of reptiles, amphibians, birds, fishes, and mammals. And in some cases, curators and our graduate students are sequencing whole genomes,” Austin said.

While researchers work daily to uncover hidden specimens, the museum invites visitors to explore and learn about scientific history.

Stop by the LSU Natural Sciences museum in Murphy J. Foster Hall for a closer look at natural history.