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Myths in the Museum: The Iron-Eater and the Ostrich Egg
This is the fourth segment in the Myths in the Museum series; you can go back and read about the horseshoe crab, the dugong and mermaid, and the narwhal and unicorn. The now-extinct Arabian ostrich,...
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When Plastics Saved Turtles
As you may now know, UCL Culture has decided to defund our program next month and so this will be my final post. I thought I would take this opportunity to give a little back story to my PhD project...
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Question of the Week: How do dogs recognise other dogs?
From Great Danes and Dogue de Bordeauxs to miniature Dachshunds and Chihuahuas, man’s best friend comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, so how can they recognise fellow dogs even when they all look...
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The case of the yellow T-Rex
When I joined the engager team, we were given a great tour of all three UCL museums so as to help us relate our own research to their respective collections. In a simplified nutshell, my work focuses...
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Question of the Week: How do you Describe the Jaw of a Crocodile?
Like many of us, Leonardo da Vinci, the great polymath, wrote “to-do” lists. However, in true Leonardo form, his lists did not contain typical mundane tasks such as ‘pick up milk’ or ‘post mum’s...
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Famous Butts of the Animal World: The Okapi
Jungle-politan’s Senior Relationships and Lifestyle Correspondent, Sarah Serengeti, examines pressing posterior issues. Hey there, all you sassy Jungle ladies! Sarah Serengeti here. Now, as you may...
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Myths in the Museum: Horseshoe Crabs, Blue Blood, and Modern Medicine
This is the third segment in the Myths in the Museum series; you can go back and read about the dugong and mermaid, and the narwhal and unicorn. With Halloween now behind us and the golden days of...
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The leg bones connected to the hip bone…
One of the nice benefits of working as a student engager is that during the down times when there aren’t that many people in the museum — the last 20-30 min before closing gets pretty calm — I have a...
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The Plagues of Egypt
For my blog post this week I am starting a new series based loosely on the Plagues of Egypt. The idea came to me while I was working in the Grant Museum and was thinking about possible connections...
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Question of the Week: Why does the Kingfisher look blue?
The Common Kingfisher is one of Britain’s most colourful native birds and a personal favourite of mine. Despite the name, the Common Kingfisher isn’t actually all that common. I’ve only been lucky...
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Summer Lovin’: Why You Need a Pachyderm Paramour
Here’s a special issue of Jungle-politan by our Senior Relationships Correspondent, Sarah Serengeti. Hey there, Savannah Sisters. I don’t know about you, but when the temperature climbs, the first...
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Myths in the Museum: The Dugong and the Mermaid
There’s a 2.7-meter-long skeleton of a big underwater creature in the Grant Museum of Zoology, right when you enter the main room. On my first Saturday shift as a PhD museum engager, a 7-year-old boy...
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What is the relationship between frogs and fertility?
During my first few weeks as a student engager I began to notice the presence of frogs… everywhere. I saw them in various forms and objects in the Petrie Museum, and found frog and other amphibious...
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The Imperial Gentleman of China
I am a primatologist; that is, a scientist who studies the behaviour, abundance and conservation status of monkeys, lemurs and apes. My specialty area and the focus of my PhD research here at...
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Question of the Week: Why are sea sponges considered animals?
By Sarah Gibbs In that big comparative anatomy lecture hall in the sky, Robert Grant, founder of UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology, must be smiling. This week’s featured question focuses on Grant’s...
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Question of the Week: Why do box jellyfish have eyes?
If you meet me during one of my shifts as a PhD Student Engager in the Grant Museum, you’ll find me next to the Micrarium, facing a case packed full of jellyfish and their ghostly relatives. I’ve never...
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Of Gastropods and Glass: The Grant Museum’s Blaschka Models of Invertebrates
This week it’s time for another of my favourite objects from the UCL museums, today from the collections of the Grant Museum of Zoology. Displayed in a case near the front of the museum is a collection...
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I spy with my little eye… Micrarium Top 5
Want a tour through the Grant Museum’s iconic display of the tiny creatures that populate our world? Well unfortunately, it’s much too small for that! However, here I’ll tell you about five of my...
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Question of the Week: What’s this Museum For?
By Hannah Wills A couple of weeks ago, whilst engaging in the Grant Museum, I started talking to some secondary school students on a group visit to the museum. During their visit, the students had...
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Label Detective: Are Bacteria ‘Ordinary Animals?’
A few weeks ago, the Grant Museum opened a new exhibit, The Museum of Ordinary Animals: boring beasts that changed the world. As a detective of the mundane myself, I am a huge fan. But I’m particularly...
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