Tales of Iguanodon Tails
As one of our many invaluable volunteers, Leonie Biggenden has spent many hours beside the Iguanodon skeleton in the Museum’s main court, so she decided to go on the trail of its history…… Continue reading →
Revealing Exceptional fossils, one layer at a time
Around 120 years ago, William Sollas, Professor of Geology at the University of Oxford, developed a special technique for grinding down and imaging certain kinds of fossils. Sollas was based at the Museum at the time, and the process he pioneered is still used here today, as our Palaeobiology Technician Carolyn Lewis explains to mark… Continue reading →
A Swift Return to Summer
This morning, the 5 May and right on cue, we were treated to the first two Swifts performing a low, high speed fly-by of the tower…… Continue reading →
Hedgehog Awareness Week
For Hedgehog Awareness Week, Zoology Collections Manager Mark Carnall and Museum Librarian and Archivist Danielle Czerkaszyn discuss these prickly and charming creatures.… Continue reading →
The Evolution of Plants
To mark Plant Appreciation Day today, Lauren Baker and Chris Thorogood of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum take us on a quick tour of the evolution of plants: from primitive water-dwelling algae to the colonisation of land, and the eventual success of angiosperms – the flowering plants.… Continue reading →
The astounding story of the fake butterfly specimen Papilio ecclipsis – would you be fooled?
For April Fool’s Day, our Senior Collections Manager Darren Mann recounts the story of an elegantly fake butterfly – Papilio ecclipsis – asking whether it was a piece of scientific fraudulence or practical joke that went awry.… Continue reading →
Railway Geology part 2: Read all about it
The expansion of the railways in the 19th century offered more than just faster travel times. It introduced the wonders of geology, scenery and history to the travelling public at large.… Continue reading →
Railway Geology Part 1: The flying steed
The introduction and growth of the railway network in the first half of the 19th century not only revolutionised travel and transport of goods for many, but it also had a profound effect on the science of geology.… Continue reading →
Drawn to Nature
By Chris Jarvis, Education Officer With lockdown and the long winter nights shuffling the nation’s emotions like a ham-fisted magician with a damp deck of cards, we have no doubt all suffered from a case of the winter blues at some point recently. While the Museum and its inspiring specimens have been closed to visitors… Continue reading →
Darwin’s dockdown reading list
When Charles Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle in 1831, he had access to a library of over 400 books on the ship. For Darwin Day, 12th February, we explored some of what Darwin read to help him pass the time…… Continue reading →
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