The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County have launched a new portal, NHMLAC Connects, for exploring natural and cultural wonders from home.

NHMLAC, which includes the Natural History Museum, La Brea Tar Pits and Williams S. Hart Museum, is innovating to open new doors to natural history online amid temporary closures. Visitors can learn about recent paleontological discoveries by NHM scientists, including the world’s tiniest dinosaur, or explore Los Angeles’ biodiversity from bugs, bats and birds.

There is also content on mountain lion P-22, guides on how to make discoveries and participate in community science projects by observing snails, and swifts, which are a type of migratory bird.

NHMLAC Connects provides opportunities to go behind the scenes of time-lapse videos of exhibit installations such as the Tyrannosaurus rex growth series and a lion pride diorama in NHM’s African Mammal Hall.

With more than 35 million objects and specimens in its collections, the museums are a rich repository for L.A. history and culture. The new portal highlights objects and stories from the L.A. history department and the “Becoming Los Angeles” exhibit includes a video about the history of L.A. street names, a cape worn by Aunt March in the 1949 version of “Little Women” and an interview with master altar-maker Ofelia Esparza and her daughter, Rosanna Esparaza Ahrens.

NHMLAC scientists share fieldwork experiences and discoveries such as an ant-decapitating fly found in Brazil, wooly rhino fossils found in the Himalayas, what’s it like to dig for dinosaurs in Antarctica and current research at Tarpits of the World.

Specific family-focused activities include how to make a fossil skull puppet with a clothespin and tips for observing nature.

NHMLAC encourages people to follow them on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for updates and more curated content during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Los Angeles County Natural History Museum is located at 900 Exposition Blvd., La Brea Tar Pits and Museum is located at 5801 Wilshire Blvd., and the William S. Hart Museum is located at 24151 Newhall Ave., Santa Clarita.

For information, visit nhmlac.org/connects.