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Archive for April, 2017

Specimen of the Week 289: Proavis Wax Model

By ucwehlc, on 28 April 2017

This week we bring you a charming and slightly mad model of an animal that never was. Look, up on the shelf! It’s a bird! It’s a dinosaur! No, specimen of the week is…

Proavis wax model LDUCZ-X1180

Proavis wax model LDUCZ-X1180

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How did it get like that?

By Will J Richard, on 26 April 2017

Grant Museum Visitor Services Volunteer Nicole Barber answers a question often put to her by the museum’s visitors…

How did it get like that?

Surrounded by the Grant Museum’s many exciting specimens, it’s not often you think of the painstaking preparation that went into each one before they were put on display. (Or at least I don’t, I’m usually far more interested in what’s in the case rather than how it got there.) The process of preparing zoological specimens is a lengthy one, involving some complicated and often quite gory techniques. The specimens in our collection have been pickled, taxidermied, pinned, stained, disarticulated, and re-articulated to make them educational and interesting to both researchers and the general public. We’ve previously explored some of the more unusual display techniques such as staining with red alizarin, or (and don’t pretend you don’t know which specimen this is) cramming things into jars, but what about our more traditional skeletal specimens?

LDUCZ-Z2701 baboon skeleton

LDUCZ-Z2701 baboon skeleton

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Specimen of the Week 288: Pipistrelle bat skull

By Dean W Veall, on 21 April 2017

 

Pipistrelle sp. LDUCZ-Z617

Pipistrelle sp. LDUCZ-Z617

Hello Specimen of the Week fans, Dean Veall here. This week I have chosen a specimen that requires some very delicate handling as it’s a tiddler. The specimen is beautifully delicate and I would say demonstrates expert skills in preparation. This week’s Specimen of the Week is…

 

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Specimen of the Week 287: The Marine Isopods

By zcqsrti, on 14 April 2017

Marine isopod (Serolis scythei) specimens in fluid. H145

Marine isopod (Serolis scythei) specimens in fluid. LDUCZ-H145

Research for this specimen on the week has been somewhat difficult, especially when a quick google search for it’s Latin name comes up with fruitful results of operation manuals for gasoline hedge trimmers, stamp catalogues for the enthused collectors of the Falkland Islands and an aged encyclopedia called the ‘Penny Cyclopaedia of The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge’ (a steal at only seven shillings and a sixpence).

 

 

 

 

 

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Specimen of the Week 286: The Notebook Models

By Tannis Davidson, on 7 April 2017

Practical Zoology Notebook

Student Notebook 1911

As is often the case, it is difficult to choose a single specimen to highlight in this blog. The Grant Museum has 68,000 specimens and each one has a story to tell. Sometimes the stories are connected and link specimens together in unexpected ways, which is why this week’s focus is on a quartet of specimens, rather than one.

At first glance the four specimens may not appear to have much in common. One is a glass jellyfish, two are wax models of different parasitic worms and the other no longer exists. What they do share is a common history of use, artistic beauty and legacy. This week’s Specimens of the Week are…
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