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Specimen of the Week 334: The Tapeworm (feat. the sheep brain)

By Jack Ashby, on 16 March 2018

This week’s Specimen of the Week is a guest edition by Front of House Volunteer and a UCL Masters student of Human Evolution and Behaviour, Adam Cogan.

A sheep's brain disected to reveal a tapework cyst. LDUCZ-D60

A sheep’s brain disected to reveal a large tapeworm cyst. LDUCZ-D60

If by now 2018 is giving you a bit of a headache, then this week’s Specimen of the Week may make you feel a bit better! Today our guest (and host, I suppose) is… (more…)

Specimen of the Week 188: Spirorbis worms

By Mark Carnall, on 18 May 2015

Close up of LDUCZ G105 Spirorbis preserved in fluid

LDUCZ-G105 Care to guess what it is. A sea pen, barnacles?

If you check our specimen of the week widget, where you can see all past specimens of the weeks the vertebrates, in particular mammals, still dominate despite being a comparatively small group of animals. This week I’m going to focus attention on a far less furry or ferocious invertebrate animal because let’s face it they just don’t get the PR the Hollywood Animals do.

If you ever whiled away an afternoon at the beach rockpooling, you’ve undoubtedly come across these animals but may not have noticed or recognised them.

This week’s specimen of the week is… (more…)

Specimen of the Week: Week 138

By Stacy Hackner, on 2 June 2014

Scary MonkeyThis week’s specimen is another invertebrate. As a bone researcher filling at the front desk, invertebrates don’t usually hold my attention (they lack bones, you see), but I make an exception for this unassuming annelid-like sea creature. This Specimen of the Week is a wet specimen, greyish in color, with what looks like an eye near its mouth, which means it’s a… (more…)