COLLECTIONS
Who was Graman Kwasi?
4 October 2018
Though visitors can spot his namesake on the iconic gilded ceiling of the Museum's Hintze Hall, few will have heard of Graman Kwasimukambe.
Slavery and the natural world
2 October 2018
Explore research into how the Museum's history and collections are connected to the transatlantic slave trade.
Daniel Solander: a Linnaean disciple on HMS Endeavour
24 August 2018
Meet the Swedish botanist who ventured around the world on Captain Cook's pivotal first voyage.
HMS Endeavour 250
17 August 2018
Discover rarely displayed illustrations and specimens from Captain Cook's first voyage.
Endeavour art collection highlighted on Royal Mail stamps
16 August 2018
Royal Mail has just launched Captain Cook stamps starring the Museum's collections.
The incomparable tale of Evelyn Cheesman
29 March 2018
The adventures of a tenacious female explorer brought to life by comic artist Sammy Borras.
Anna Atkins's cyanotypes: the first book of photographs
16 March 2018
Meet the first person to illustrate a book with photographic images.
Mary Anning: the unsung hero of fossil discovery
9 March 2018
Mary was a pioneering palaeontologist and fossil collector. Her lifetime was a constellation of firsts.
What is a coprolite?
Fossil poo may not be a glamorous fossil find, but it can reveal a lot about prehistoric animals.
Lucy Evelyn Cheesman: the woman who walked
8 March 2018
Whether liaising with cannibals or escaping giant spider webs, Cheesman took the challenges of perilous fieldwork - and patriarchal views - in her stride.
Dorothea Bate: a Natural History Museum pioneer
1 March 2018
Meet the trailblazer who was one of the first women employed as a scientist by the Museum.
In high spirits: meet Charles Darwin's octopus
12 February 2018
Brimming with enthusiasm for the natural world, even Charles Darwin didn't always get it right.
Charles Darwin: history's most famous biologist
9 February 2018
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) transformed the way we understand the natural world with ideas that, in his day, were nothing short of revolutionary.
Walter Rothschild: a curious life
8 February 2018
From zebra-drawn carriages to fancy-dressed fleas, take a peek inside the curious world of Walter Rothschild.
Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?
8 January 2018
An intrepid explorer and brilliant naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace co-published the theory of evolution by natural selection with Charles Darwin.
OCEANS
Highlighting coral reefs at risk
1 December 2017
What can antique corals reveal about the impact of climate change on the ocean?
Often imitated: Henry Bates and the butterflies of the Amazon
6 July 2017
A special collection of butterfly specimens at the Museum helps tell a tale of extraordinary adventure and scientific insight.
Missouri Leviathan: The making of an American mastodon
5 July 2017
From touring spectacle to Museum star: hear the hidden history behind this ancient mammal skeleton.
NEWS
Captain Scott's legacy supports Antarctic biodiversity research
21 June 2017
Bacterial samples collected by Captain Scott's Discovery Expedition more than 100 years ago have been used to assess the current state of Antarctic biodiversity.
Weirdly wonderful: redisplaying cabinets of curiosities
16 March 2017
Resin deer lungs, a warthog and a pterosaur fossil are just a few of the curious specimens to be found in the new Hintze Hall.
Indexing Earth's wonders: a history of the Museum
17 April 2018
Find out how new developments will build on the Museum's history as an index of the natural world.
The whale story: Richard Owen
19 January 2017
Discover how whales were at the heart of the original proposal for a museum of natural history in Britain.
Charles Darwin's coral conundrum
7 April 2016
Darwin’s first scientific theory wasn’t about evolution, but how coral reefs form around the world.
Adventures of the world's oldest butterflies
19 March 2016
Discover the explorers responsible for the oldest butterfly collection in existence.
Amazonian artwork by pioneers of evolutionary theory now online
7 July 2015
Scientific artwork by Alfred Russel Wallace and Henry Walter Bates - two of the most important nineteenth-century biologists and natural history collectors - is available online for the first time.
'Monstrous' mastodon molar
26 June 2015
This is the first mastodon fossil from Britain ever described. It belonged to William Smith, creator of Britain’s first geological map.
Butterflies with bullet holes
23 June 2015
Find out why the first known specimen of Queen Alexandra's birdwing has bullet holes in its wings.
Natural Histories
27 May 2015
Listen to the stories of extraordinary species that have influenced human society and changed the way we see the world.
Evolution pioneer’s illegible notebook brought back to life
20 November 2014
Hyperspectral imaging allows us to read for the first time one of Alfred Russel Wallace's notebooks that was ruined in a shipwreck.
