12 Days of Winter Wildlife: Active Insects
It’s day three of our 12 Days of Winter Wildlife and we are exploring insects that are active in the cold weather, and in particular, winter moths. These are amazing animals, but how do we study moths? Join moth expert Annette Shelford as she shows us why moths are important and how to monitor them with this film from our Zoology Live festival that took … Continue reading 12 Days of Winter Wildlife: Active Insects
12 Days of Winter Wildlife: Garden Birds
For day two of our 12 Days of Winter Wildlife, we are celebrating our feathered friends. Winter can be tough for birds. As the temperature drops, they need more energy to keep warm. But once the bounty of berries and seeds of the autumn is over, food can be in short supply. Provide birds with food in your garden or outdoor space and you can … Continue reading 12 Days of Winter Wildlife: Garden Birds
12 Days of Winter Wildlife
Take a look out of your window – what wildlife can you see? Over the next 12 days we will be exploring local wildlife over the colder months, giving you some tops tips on how to support it, and also celebrating winter wildlife with sustainable crafts and more. Catch up with our live launch of the 12 Days of Winter Wildlife that took place on … Continue reading 12 Days of Winter Wildlife
Natural History, Extinction, and Storytelling at the Museum of Zoology
In this blog for Lost Species Day 2020, Geography PhD student Anna Guasco explores the question of: How do we tell stories and remember histories about natural history, extinction, and species endangerment in museums – and why does this matter? Today is Remembrance Day for Lost Species, or ‘Lost Species Day’. This label memorialises dodos, thylacines, passenger pigeons, and other icons of extinction – as … Continue reading Natural History, Extinction, and Storytelling at the Museum of Zoology
We know conservation is working, but do we really know what works?
Alec Christie, PhD student in the Conservation Evidence group of the Department of Zoology writes: Go to your doctor and they’ll give you the best treatment based on the scientific evidence. So why can’t we do the same for biodiversity? Recently we’ve seen a flurry of important work highlighting the continuing decline of biodiversity, including David Attenborough’s documentary Extinction: the facts. It’s also very encouraging … Continue reading We know conservation is working, but do we really know what works?
Skeletons: Arms and Legs
Last month in Nature Classroom we went on a guided tour of the skeleton, looking at the all the different bits and what they do. Today we are going to focus in on the arms and legs. Why? We can tell a lot about the animals they belong to, the way they move and sometimes even the way they eat when we look at the … Continue reading Skeletons: Arms and Legs
Puggle Club Counts to 10
Join us as we count animals in the Museum of Zoology. From the one and only Fin Whale, a whopping 21m long, to shells, birds, beetles and more. With fun animal facts along the way. Continue reading Puggle Club Counts to 10
Coming Soon: 12 Days of Winter Wildlife
This year we are taking our Winter Wildlife event online. Join us for the live launch on our YouTube channel at 4.30pm on Tuesday 1 December or catch up here: Get your questions ready for a LIVE Q&A with Rob Jaques from the British Trust for Ornithology, who’ll be talking about birds and other winter wildlife, and ways you can get involved collecting important data … Continue reading Coming Soon: 12 Days of Winter Wildlife
Provide shady spots to protect butterflies from climate change
Researchers have discovered significant variations in the ability of different UK butterfly species to maintain a suitable body temperature. Species that rely most on finding a suitably shady location to keep cool are at the greatest risk of population decline. The results predict how climate change might impact butterfly communities, and will inform conservation strategies to protect them. The results, published in the Journal of … Continue reading Provide shady spots to protect butterflies from climate change
Lantern bugs for a Festival of Lights
At this time of year, people across the world will be celebrating Diwali or Deepawali, also known as the Indian festival of lights. Create a lantern bug light holder to celebrate the festival together. What is a lantern bug? Lantern bugs, Fulgora and Pyrops, (also known as lanternflies) are found across south and south east Asia, and the Americas; mostly in tropical regions. They are part of … Continue reading Lantern bugs for a Festival of Lights
Virtual Museum Tour
Are you missing the Museum of Zoology? We are in lockdown again, but we have the next best thing for you here: a virtual tour with Assistant Director Jack Ashby. See our fabulous fin whale, get up close to specimens collected by Charles Darwin, and discover Diprotodon, the largest ever Australian mammal. You can find more highlights of the Museum in our online Highlights Trail. Continue reading Virtual Museum Tour
Busy Bee Communication
Ever wondered how bees communicate with each other to work as a team? Learn about the important job these pollinating insects carry out. Play our ‘Talk like a Bee’ game and discover how bees can ‘smell’ each other when visiting flowers, and find out how we can give these insects a helping hand by building your very own bee-friendly winter refuge. Insect communication Insects can … Continue reading Busy Bee Communication
Segmentation of the backbone
Kate Criswell, Postdoctoral Research Associate, writes: One of the key features that distinguishes vertebrate animals from our invertebrate cousins (such as insects and molluscs) is a backbone, or a series of vertebrae that run the length of the body. These vertebrae can range in number from only nine in frogs to over 300 in elongate animals like snakes and eels! They are important for providing … Continue reading Segmentation of the backbone
The Changing Seasons
Look out of your window and you are probably seeing some big changes happening in the natural world outside. It is getting dark in the early evening. The leaves on the trees are changing colour from green to orange and yellow then falling to the ground. You might have spotted bunches of berries, or conkers and other nuts. And the temperature is dropping too. It’s … Continue reading The Changing Seasons
Sleepy Sloths
For October half term this year, we hid eight sloths in the displays at the Museum of Zoology. We had planned for these to be up until November 7 for you to find, but circumstances have changed and we have had to close our doors once more. But we can’t leave you without access to our wonderful sloths, so here’s a Puggle Club story all … Continue reading Sleepy Sloths
