Snap up your very own 50 million year-old shark's tooth

Visitors to the free event at the Grant Museum of Zoology, Fossil Forage, will be able to work alongside scientists and be the first people to sieve through real fossil-rich sediment deposited in London over 50 million years ago and take home the artefacts they find. Around this time in London's history the city took a quick dip back under the sea. With sharks and crocodiles patrolling overhead, it was a very different place, but it was also the perfect place for fossils to form.

At the hands-on museum, visitors will also get the opportunity to explore a range of other fascinating fossils in a series of activities running throughout the day. This includes taking a trip through 400 million years of the Earth's history to see a mammoth's tusk, a sabre-tooth tiger's skull and pterodactyl fossils.

Founded in 1827, the Grant Museum of Zoology retains the spirit of the avid Victorian collector, containing cases packed full of skeletons, mounted animals and specimens preserved in fluid. The museum also houses many rare and extinct animals including the Tasmanian tiger and the dodo.

EVENT: Fossil Forage activity day

WHEN: From 10am-4pm, Saturday 11th and 18th March 2006

WHERE: Grant Museum of Zoology, Darwin Building, UCL, Gower Street London WC1E 6BT

MAP: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/about-ucl/images/image_bank/maps/main_site_bw_2005_mid

For further information visit www.grant.museum.ucl.ac.uk or contact:

Lyndal Gully, Education Officer Grant Museum of Zoology, University College London, Tel: +44(0)20 7679 2647, Email: zoology.museum @ucl.ac.uk

Judith H Moore, UCL Media Relations, Tel: +44 (0) 20 7679 7678, Mobile: +44 (0)77333 075 96, Email: judith.moore@ucl.ac.uk