Alex Howard, PhD Student, writes: While our trademark rainy and cold weather are not always the most conducive to ‘herping’ (going outside to look for reptiles), the UK is in fact home to six different species of reptile. If you’re going on walks early in the morning, you may spot some of our native scaly friends. You’ll be lucky to see them, as all of … Continue reading Sunshine and Scales: British Reptiles
To celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month the Museum is sharing the stories of 27 inspirational women, alongside the animals they work with the most. Dr Michela Leonardi Department of Zoology “If we want to improve conservation strategies in the face of the current climate emergency, we need to understand how climate influences animal distribution in the absence of human activity. This is … Continue reading Climate responses in the absence of humans
The Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) is one of the most recognisable springtime butterflies. Over the last few weeks, many of you will have seen the males, with their distinctive orange wingtips, and the cloudy white females in your gardens. Now is a good time to see the start of the next generation of the butterflies, by searching for the butterfly’s beautiful amphora-shaped orange eggs on Garlic … Continue reading Butterfly Eggs
Animals in the Arctic are all connected. Sat on top of the world, the Arctic is made up of sea ice surrounded by land. It is very cold, and contains very little plant life. The animals that live there rely on each other for their food and survival in this unique environment. A food chain shows how the animals are related with each other by … Continue reading Create Arctic animal puppets
Academic in the Department of Zoology, and one of our visitor engagement volunteers in the Museum, Dr Tony Fulford writes: ‘Swallows don’t quite do it for me. Don’t get me wrong, they are wonderful birds, skimming the ponds and twittering in the sky, but it isn’t they who bring in spring. They are up there if you look but they don’t fill the air with … Continue reading The Ten Locally Breeding Warblers
For International Women’s Day 2020, Dr Kate Sainsbiry of the Department of Zoology gave a fascinating talk about her research into the conservation of British carnivores. Populations of these charismatic animals have gone up and down over the years. Here you can discover why, and what has been and is being done to protect them. Here are some things to think about from watching this … Continue reading Conserving Britain’s Carnivores
Join us every Tuesday as we make an alphabet from the animals in the Museum of Zoology. Today is the letter F: F is for flamingo, fox, frog, falcon, fish, fur and feathers. Can you think of any others? Join us next week for animals in the Museum beginning with the letter G, with something very very tall… Continue reading Animal Alphabet: F is for Flamingo
To celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month the Museum is sharing the stories of 27 inspirational women, alongside the animals they work with the most. Fleur Nash Department of Geography “For me, when I think of animals, I can’t separate them from humans. That is why I am researching conservation and how humans, in the form of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs), work within … Continue reading Exploring gender in conservation
Just beneath the waves in shallow tropical seas you’ll find a world teeming with life. It’s here that we find coral reefs – colourful habitats where countless creatures live. This Nature Classroom will explore these fascinating ecosystems and how they are being affected by climate change. First we will uncover what corals are, then make a coral reef spinner to explore coral bleaching. We’ll then … Continue reading Our Changing Reef Habitats
To celebrate Hedgehog Awareness Week, here’s a specially written Puggle Club story inspired by the hedgehog on display in the Museum. Hungry Hedgehog Words and illustrations by Rosalyn Wade The moon was full and the stars were bright As Hedgehog went snuffling round for a bite ‘A morsel of snail and a mouthful of slug, ‘A nice wriggly worm and a fine, crunchy bug, ‘What … Continue reading A Prickly Tale
Prof Bill Amos of the Department of Zoology has been keeping a photo diary of the lockdown, taking a picture of an insect every day. We shared the first set of photos with you last week. Scroll down and see how amazing our insects look close to with his latest batch of photos and captions. And why not try photographing an insect a day? Share … Continue reading An Insect A Day
You can fnd nature everywhere in your garden, and a wildlife hotspot you may not have explored is your compost heap. Join our Curator of Insects, Dr Ed Turner, as he goes in search of the amazing minibeasts living in his compost heap. Found something exciting in your garden? We would love to hear about it! You can comment below, post it on Twitter with … Continue reading Compost Creatures
To celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month the Museum is sharing the stories of 27 inspirational women, alongside the animals they work with the most. Dr Antje Steinfurth RSPB, Centre for Conservation Science “Penguins are one of the most iconic groups of animals, but over half of the world’s penguin species are under threat of extinction. My research has focused on understanding the … Continue reading Protecting penguins
Matt Hayes, Research Assistant writes: Whilst everyone is being asked to stay at home it’s important that we continue to look outside and engage with the natural world. To help with this, we are going to be blogging about wildlife you can see from your window or in your garden. This set of posts will look at different groups of common butterflies as well as … Continue reading Copper butterflies
Have you been woken early in the morning by birds calling outside? At this time of year, early risers are treated to one of nature’s wonders – the symphony of bird song we call the Dawn Chorus. It was International Dawn Chorus Day on Sunday (May 3rd), and to celebrate some of our team woke up early to capture these sounds of spring for you. … Continue reading Birds: The Dawn Chorus
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