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News and musings from the UCL Culture team
By Jack Ashby, on 23 March 2018
This week’s Specimen of the Week is a guest edition by Front of House Volunteer and UCL Student of History and Philosophy of Science, Leah Christian.
A couple of weeks ago we gave you a skull from the flamingo, a bird that prefers the warmer climes. Now, let’s look at a bird that would feel right at home in the United Kingdom this week…
A chinstrap penguind skull. LDUCZ-Y1577
By Will J Richard, on 19 January 2018
Hello e-readers! Will Richard here, once again choosing a specimen for you. And to say good bye (I am soon off to pastures new) I’ve gone for a giant. The biggest in its Class….
LDUCZ-Y1 elephant bird egg cast
By Tannis Davidson, on 3 November 2017
Back in September, a Specimen of the Week blog post The Gross, The Bad and The Ugly featured a number jarred specimens which were, in part due to their dreadful condition, disposed of. They were all fluid preserved specimens which had over time deteriorated and disintegrated and could not be salvaged by conservation.
But not all specimens in jars have this potential to turn nasty. There are thousands of fluid specimens in the collection which are in excellent condition. The Grant Museum also has specimens in jars which are not fluid preserved at all and, by the virtue of their jarred-ness, have been shielded from the effects of deterioration and look as lively and colourful as they did on their last living day.
So, as a counterpart to the uglies, this week’s blog is showcasing some lovelies… (more…)
By Nadine Gabriel, on 25 August 2017
Hello everyone, it’s Nadine Gabriel. I’ve been a familiar face at the Grant Museum over the years and I have recently started an internship here – I’m really looking forward to another year at the museum! Over the past few months, I’ve been accessioning objects in the display cabinets high up in the museum and I have come across many interesting specimens. However, one mounted skeleton with a striking pose really stood out to me and it’s also the only specimen of its species in the Grant Museum. Let’s make some noise for the horned screamer!
Articulated skeleton of a horned screamer (Anhima cornuta) LDUCZ-Y519
By Jack Ashby, on 21 July 2017
The long-eared owl: BEFORE. LDUCZ-Y1604
In a move unprecedented in Specimen of the Week history, I have chosen to blogify the same specimen as I selected in my last Specimen of the Week. The reason is that in many ways it is not the same specimen as it was six weeks ago: it has undergone a profound transformation. We used to call this specimen “the googly-eyed owl”, due to its comedy wonky eyes, but it is googly-eyed no longer. This week’s Specimen of the Week is… (more…)
By Dean W Veall, on 2 June 2017
Hello Specimen of the Week fans, Dean Veall here. This week I’ve chosen a specimen I have often got confused by at this time of the year. This week’s Specimen of the Week is…
Taxidermy swift LDUCZ-Y1552
By Will J Richard, on 19 May 2017
LDUCZ-X86 horned lizard
The Mexican plateau horned lizard (Phrynosoma orbiculare) is a small reptile native to the high plateau of Central Mexico. They are almost spherical, about the size of a 50p coin, and have two characteristic horn-like projections on their snout. They seem pretty harmless… THIS IS NOT THE CASE. As a last resort the tiny lizards can shoot streams of pressurised blood from the corners of their eyes, spraying predators over a metre and half away. At first this seemed the single grimmest thing I’ve ever read about any animal but it got me looking at other disgusting ways species choose to defend themselves. These are a few of my “favourites”…
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
By Dean W Veall, on 3 February 2017
Black-casqed hornbill LDUCZ-Y1710 Ceratogymna atrata
Hello Specimen of the Week fans, Dean Veall here. This week I’ve chosen a specimen that is a bit of an avian showoff in the animal world (**PLUG PLUG**Join us on Thursday 9 March for more showoffs in Animal Showoff **PLUG PLUG**). That is no mean feat for birds, a group of vertebrates that are known for their showoffy-ness. My Specimen of Week is a hornbill skull and I fear I cannot restrain myself from singing the one song hornbills are famous for. Can’t place the song? Read on…..
By Dean W Veall, on 23 December 2016
Dean Veall here. ‘Twas the night before the night before Christmas and all the Museum, not a creature was stirring (on account of them being dead and all), not even a mouse, (because that particular specimen was preserved using an experimental freeze drying technique). Festive greetings blog readers. I’ve chosen the guineafowl for my specimen this week, which has (sort of, ish) festive connections. The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), was often confused with the more familiar guineafowl in the 1600’s when European settlers reached America, due to the the featherless heads and similar colouration of the plumage. And with that tenuous festive link, this week’s Specimen of the Week is:
