The Grant Museum of Zoology

Grant Museum of Zoology

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Introduction | Highlights | History of the Collections | Current Questions and iPads

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Big News - The Micrarium Opens

The Micrarium is a place for tiny things. Over 2000 microscope slides display the incomprehensible diversity of life in a ground-breaking experimental installation. Read all about it on our Exhibitions page.

Introduction

The Grant Museum of Zoology is the only remaining university zoological museum in London. It houses around 67,000 specimens, covering the whole Animal Kingdom. Founded in 1828 as a teaching collection, the Museum is packed full of skeletons, mounted animals and specimens preserved in fluid. Many of the species are now endangered or extinct including the Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine, the Quagga, and the Dodo.

Highlights

The Grant Museum of Zoology has a selection of spectacular glass models made by the Blaschka family in the late 1800s. The Museum also contains many of Robert Grant's original specimens as well as those of Thomas Henry Huxley. The Grant Museum's collection of Sir Victor Negus's bisected heads are both arresting and beautiful and are reminiscent of the work of the artist Damien Hirst. You can also send the highlights of our collection as an e-card.

Take a self-guided tour around the Museum, and see some of the most important specimens.

Current Questions and iPads

The Grant Museum of Zoology is a centre for discussion and dialogue. Ten of our displays have iPads attached asking visitors to get involved in conversations about the role of science in society and how museums should be run. Visitors can respond on our iPads, on their own smart phones using QR codes or the Tales of Things App, via Twitter using #GrantQR and @uclmuseums or on their computers.

Get involved in the conversations at www.qrator.org

These questions will change every few months. The project - called QRator - has been developed in partnership with UCL Centre for Advanced Spacial Analysis and UCL Digital Humanities, funded by UCL Public Engagement Unit.

History of the Collections

Find out about the Museum's rich history, dating back to over 170 years.

A history of the Grant Museum's new home in the Rockefeller Building has been compiled by Professor Joe Cain, UCL Science and Technology Studies.

Robert Grant's university correspondence, many of his papers and lectures can be found in the UCL Special Collections.