#grantmuseum

Having existed at UCL since 1828, The Grant Museum of Zoology is one UK’s oldest natural history collections. Inside the halls of the museum, there are extensive collections that cover nearly the entirety of the animal kingdom that we know of. Roughly, there are around 68,000 specimens presented in the museum.

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 History and Founding

The museum was founded by Professor Robert Grant. As one of the inaugural professors at UCL, Grant was a passionate educator which has fierce devotion to curating and indexing various species of the animal kingdom.

As the years rolled on, many researchers and curators added their own items to the collections of Professor Grant. Thus, the original 9000 specimens have now grown very close to 70,000.

The museum was originally founded as a teaching collection intended to be of use by Zoology students as well as those who study Comparative Anatomy. For the last 200 years, The Grant Museum of Zoology has been used incessantly by many brilliant minds who are passionate about the animal kingdom.

Every year, the Grant Museum hosts thousands of students from all over the world whose intent is to use and study the collections inside it for research and teaching.

From half a billion-year-old fossils to animal skulls that are 3D printed, collections inside the museum could be stared at by anyone for either educational or recreational purposes. Truly, there is something for everyone to explore in this world-renowned zoology museum. You can book a comfortable stay in one of the hotels in Kensington for a day or two to watch the museum in and out.

“The Grant Museum of Zoology is something that you shouldn’t miss once you set foot on the premises of London.”

Popular Exhibits

Quagga Skeletons

Included as one of the highlights of the collections is the rarest skeletons in the world, which are the extinct Quagga. So far, there are only 7 sets of skeletons found for the Quagga species, and the museum hosts one such set.

Dodo Bones

Having evolved from the Portuguese word 'doudo', or 'sim­pleton' the word actually means slow or stupid. The animal’s extinction appears to be dated around the early 17th century. Experts claim that there are only around 12 skeletons to be ever found. Thankfully, visitors could find a few of these bones at the Grant Museum.

Jar of Moles

Also included as an exhibit at the museum is the famous glass jar of moles which could truly capture the imagination of any visitor within the vicinity.  It is named as such because literally, there are eighteen moles that are so tightly packed within a single jar. The most interesting thing about this jar is that it has its own Twitter account which receives a constant flow of messages from curious minds from various parts of the world.

Micrarium

The museum is also home to the Micrarium, a visually stunning backlit cave that features 20,000 microscope slides of 2,323  of the tiniest creatures ever discovered in the animal kingdom. Packaged in just 2.52 square meters, you will be treated to this magnificent spectacle which is a collection of 252 lantern slides.