How did life on Earth begin? Take a high-speed tour of key events since the Big Bang that set the stage for life. Starting with the first stars and ending with the tremendous biological diversity on ...

Check out the Academy's daily schedule of activities, programs, shows, and events.

The Swamp is best known as the home of Claude, the startlingly white Alligator mississippiensis who's become one of the Academy's most famous residents. Go below for underwater, eye-to-eye views of ...

Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes, the authoritative reference for taxonomic fish names with a searchable database.

Learn about our charismatic African penguin colony from an Academy biologist. Daily, 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.

School field trip reservations are available for formal California school groups of students in grades pre-K through 12, including preschool. Field trips occur when your school is in session, with ...

The Academy is easily accessible by public transit, bike, or car. Get directions, parking info, and more.

At 25 feet deep, the Philippine Coral Reef tank is one of the deepest and largest indoor display of living coral in the world. Under the surface, hundreds of fish mingle with eels, anemones, starfish, ...

Join us for an imaginative program to learn what it would be like to transform into a splitfin flashlight fish!

The Academy is hosting its first-ever summer day camp for ages 9–11! Register now for sessions starting July 14.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 18, 2025) — Academy researchers and partners made the first discovery of both a new genus and species of plant in a U.S. national park in nearly 50 years. The ...

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (September 18, 2023) — The California Academy of Sciences is excited to reveal the age of beloved Australian lungfish Methuselah (Neoceratodus forsteri), the oldest living fish in an ...