Skulls

A 40,000-square-foot exhibit showcases more than 600 different skulls.
From an enormous bull elephant to a tiny elephant shrew, every skull tells a story about the life, death, and evolution of vertebrates. Learn how scientists use skulls to uncover clues about life on Earth.

This exhibit is no longer on view at the Academy. Explore hundreds of skulls in incredible detail on our Sketchfab channel.

Before your eyes, thousands of tiny, flesh-eating beetle larvae strip a skull clean. Just steps away, an ancient skull allows you to gaze 3.3 million years into humankind’s past. Behind you, two deer skulls are locked together, their entwined antlers attesting to one final, deadly battle. Before you—on a wall stretching 90 feet wide—video projections of swimming sea lions add life to more than 400 skulls.

More than 400 sea lion skulls adorn the "Sea of Skulls" wall.

Sea of Skulls

Four hundred California sea lion skulls gaze down from a 90-foot-wide wall, representing just one-sixth of the Academy’s scientific collection of this species. But be on the lookout for imposters!

Find the outliers
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Flesh-eating beetles at work cleaning the rib cage of a small mammal.

Flesh-Eating Beetles

Peer into one of several windows to watch our dermestid beetle colony munch the dried flesh off animal bones, diligently and delicately transforming skulls into specimens.

Watch dermestids dine
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View of an interactive that helps visitors learn to "read" skulls by comparing features like eye-sockets and jaws.

Hands-On Interactives

Skulls is a highly interactive experience, inviting you to touch, draw, and even reimagine your eyesight through various skulls. Experience vision as both predator and prey, try your hand at sketching skulls, and examine dozens of high-res, 3D skull images.

See skulls differently
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The skulls of ancient human ancestors are also on display in the Skulls exhibit.

Human Origins

Three sets of skulls tell the story of our species, from the chimpanzee (our closest living relative) to Australopithecus afarensis—our distant, upright-walking ancestor. Compare and contrast these specimens to find clues about our evolutionary history.

Explore our family tree
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Experience the wonder

Visit an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum—all under one living roof.

Buy ahead and save!
3D Skull Viewer

Academy scientists partnered with Google to image specimens from our research collections using an advanced, automated 3D technique. The results? Jaw-dropping.

Warthog skull
Enter the 3D gallery
Bandar’s bones

For more than 60 years, Academy field associate Raymond Bandar (1927-2017) collected thousands of skulls. In a ten-case display curated by “Bones” Bandar himself, visitors to the Naturalist Center can explore a variety of skulls featuring curious traits and abnormalities.

Visit the Naturalist Center

Skull Investigations

Learn more about how to "read" a skull, how a wild orca becomes an Academy specimen, and how we humans evolved.

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Head-on view of one skull in the Skulls exhibit.
Skull Stories

Skulls can tell stories as big as evolution, or as small as a shrew’s identity.

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Photo of the complete skeleton of Orca O319, which hangs from the ceiling of the Academy today.
A Specimen's Path

Follow the journey of Orca O319 from the Pacific Ocean to the Academy's scientific collection.

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Visitors explore the Human Odyssey exhibit.
Human Odyssey

Trace the milestones of our species’ fascinating history by studying skull casts, interactive maps, and more.

Science News

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Skulls: Scaffolding Under the Skin
A peek behind-the-scenes at the Academy's new Skulls exhibit.
Skull Shakes Family Tree
The discovery of a very complete skull in Dmanisi, Georgia is shaking up the human family tree. Last week...
Not So Bird-Brained
Archaeopteryx's brain may be further evidence of its not-so-special place between dinosaurs and birds.