A grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Grey squirrels are an alien species from the USA and have displaced the native red squirrel over much of the UK. One advantage the greys have over the reds is the ability to digest acorns. A grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Grey squirrels are an alien species from the USA and have displaced the native red squirrel over much of the UK. One advantage the greys have over the reds is the ability to digest acorns.

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Temporary exhibitions

Enjoy our free, family-friendly exhibitions

Discover some spectacular specimens you don't normally get a chance to see close up. Explore images of extraordinary Galapagos Islands wildlife. Two great exhibitions to visit in the summer holidays.

Brilliantly coloured snail shell patterns are natural

Dazzling designs of snail shells display

Treasures at Tring

22 July – 22 November

A rare chance to wonder at some of the strange, scary and spectacular specimens from the Natural History Museum’s collections. These incredible natural objects, like the exquisite sea shells here, are truly weird, wild and wonderful.

Get up close to a meteorite from Mars, see a beetle that looks as if it’s made from silver and find out about a fossilised tree with a curse in this unmissable summer exhibition.

wasp nest in a bowler

Wasp nest in a bowler hat

Learn fascinating stories about these rarely glimpsed treasures, including a million-year-old trilobite made into a brooch, and a  bowler hat, owned by Walter Rothschild, that contains a wasp nest!

Follow a gallery trail through the Museum that highlights other intriguing specimens like an extinct Tasmanian tiger.

Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Baby penguin looking at footprints

Footsteps © Robert Friel (UK)

5 December 2009 - 10 January 2010

This stunning annual photographic exhibition returns with an incredible range of awe-inspiring images from around the world. The 2009 competition received more than 43,000 entries from 94 countries.

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