The origin of Belgium – and of Central Europe – lies on a mysterious little continent called ‘Avalonia’. Half a billion years ago, it set out on an unlikely odyssey from the South Pole. Enjoy our longread!

Four hundred million years ago, Belgium lay just below the equator. After a violent period of collisions and mountain formation, a quieter time dawned. Our land was eroding into a plat pays  and was largely submerged underneath a tropical sea with immense coral reefs. These would ultimately petrify and form the world-famous Belgian marble. Enjoy the longread!

Order our unique posters of Belgium throught deep time!

In just 20 minutes, we'll teach you all about dinosaurs, from their first appearance 230 million years ago to the meteorite that killed almost all of them!

Thirty relatively complete iguanodon skeletons were discovered  in a coal mine in Bernissart, at the end of the 19th century.

Jurassic top predator Arkhane is the special guest at our museum.

Interviews with our specialists who tell you everything about the specimens in our GIANTS exhibition, which is currently traveling across Europe.

Mammals that lived in the shadows of dinosaurs for 150 million years - small, discreet, and hidden like Kryptobaatar* - saw their size and number of species increase following the extinction of these giant reptiles 66 million years ago. It was the beginning of what is known as the Age of Mammals. It follows the Age of Dinosaurs. 

Virtual and 3D reconstructions lead you down the branching paths of 7 million years of human evolution

The great diversity among primates today is nothing to the variety of primates that have been crawling and climbing around for the past tens of millions of years. And a Belgian fossil is even the oldest trace of that rich history.

Life appeared on earth around 3.8 billion years ago. The first living organisms were simple bacteria, which developed in
water...

Ever tried to photograph an insect sharply? Not just sharp, but so sharp that you can precisely examine the eyes, legs, and even the antennae and ultra-fine hairs?

Every year, dozens of porpoises meet their ends on Belgian beaches. Scientists are trying to find the cause of death of these stranded cetaceans through autopsy. This provides valuable insights into the health of the North Sea.  

This is why it’s essential to act for its protection as of today.” Says our conservation biologist René-Marie Lafontaine. During more than 40 years on the field, he witnessed the staggering biodiversity loss in Belgium, Europe and worldwide first-hand.

Belgian science has a new research vessel. The Belgica is the third to bear this name. But in contrast to its predecessors, this ship is large, technically sophisticated, and equipped for research at depths of up to 5000 metres. Not only that but it’s comfortable on board too. Even so, the North Sea is still the North Sea.

Geologists from the Institute of Natural Sciences went underground in the old mine of Mežica, Slovenia. For a week, they tested the sensors of their bio-inspired mining robot, which can detect thin veins of metal in the rock.

Biologist Nicolas Laurent goes on an expedition to the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the remote village of Inkanamongo. His goal: find viruses in mammals to investigate how biodiversity loss affects the emergence of zoonotic diseases such as Ebola, Monkeypox, and those linked to Coronaviruses.

Taxonomist Jérôme Constant takes you on an expedition to Chu Yang Sin National Park in Vietnam where he found lots and lots of new species of insects!

The beautiful red-breasted goose has declined sharply in numbers in recent decades. What is threatening this species? In this mini docu, travel with ornithologist Didier Vangeluwe to the Siberian tundra, where the red-breasted goose breeds.