Natural History Museum

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Coordinates: 51°29′45.54″N 00°10′34.94″W / 51.4959833°N 0.1763722°W / 51.4959833; -0.1763722

The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London (the others are the Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum). Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 70 million items within five main collections: Botany, Entomology, Mineralogy, Palaeontology and Zoology. The museum is a world-renowned centre of research, specialising in taxonomy, identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Darwin. The Natural History Museum Library contains extensive book, journal, manuscript, and artwork collections linked to the work and research of the scientific departments. Access to the library is by appointment only.

The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons, and ornate architecture — sometimes dubbed a cathedral of nature — both exemplified by the large Diplodocus cast which dominates the vaulted central hall.

Originating from collections within the British Museum, the landmark Alfred Waterhouse building was built and opened by 1881, and later incorporated the Geological Museum. The Darwin Centre is a more recent addition, partly designed as a modern facility for storing the valuable collections.

For more information about Natural History Museum, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with natural history museum

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Darwin meets Facebook

Biology / Other

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Natural history plans to chart life on earth, yet the discipline risks being buried under a landslide of painstakingly collected data that isn't always used. Now researchers at London's Natural History Museum have created ...


Early skeleton sheds light on primate evolution (AP)

47-million-year-old fossil could shed light on primate family tree

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 19, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- A 47-million-year-old primate fossil, a purported "missing link" between primates and humans, was unveiled this week in New York. The fossil, formally called Darwinius masillae but nicknamed ...


Fossil fish shows oldest live birth

Fossil fish shows oldest live birth

Biology /

created Feb 25, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A 380-million-year-old fossil fish that shows an unborn embryo and umbilical cord has been discovered, scientists report in the journal Nature.


Fossilised pregnant fish was one of the first animals to have sex

Fossilised pregnant fish was one of the first animals to have sex

Biology /

created Feb 25, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (14) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- A pregnant fossil fish at the Natural History Museum in London has shed light on the possible origin of sex, according to a study published in Nature today by an international team includ ...





Search results for natural history museum


The Natural History Museum in Geneva

Scientists find tiny new bat species: Geneva museum

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 24, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Scientists have identified a new species of bat weighing just five grammes in the Comoros island archipelago off eastern Africa, the Natural History Museum in Geneva said on Wednesday.


Biodiversity loss weakens global development

Biodiversity loss weakens global development

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 30, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Biodiversity loss is undermining global development, leading scientists warn. The paper brings together a broad group of scientists and policy makers, including Natural History Museum plant expert Dr Sandra ...


Dung beetle named after Darwin

Dung beetle named after Darwin

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 22, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

A dung beetle from Costa Rica has been named after Charles Darwin and the Darwin Initiative. It was discovered during a Natural History Museum led expedition.


Ants get their place in Smithsonian exhibit

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 29, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- Running a museum is no picnic, but the Smithsonian is attracting ants anyway.


T.rex's oldest ancestor identified

T.rex's oldest ancestor identified

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Remains of the oldest-known relative of T.rex have been identified, more than 100 years after being pulled out of a Gloucestershire reservoir, according to research published in the Zoological Jo ...


A museum employee looks over the "Cocoon" at the Darwin Centre

Darwin's collections 'cocooned' at London museum

Biology / Other

created Sep 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

London's Natural History Museum on Tuesday unveiled an eight-storey extension in the shape of a cocoon to house the collections of Charles Darwin.


Was Triceratops a social animal?

Was Triceratops a social animal?

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 24, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 1

Until now, Triceratops was thought to be unusual among its ceratopsid relatives. While many ceratopsids—a common group of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived toward the end of the Cretaceous—have been found ...


First underwater observatory live online

First underwater observatory live online

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 24, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists, including those from the Natural History Museum, have developed the world's first underwater observatory connected to the internet.


Dinosaurs declined before mass extinction

Dinosaurs declined before mass extinction

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Apr 30, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (14) | comments 5

Dinosaurs were dying out much earlier than the mass extinction event 65 million years ago, Natural History Museum scientists report in the Proceedings of the Royal Society journal today.


New bird discovered after its extinction

New bird discovered after its extinction

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 26, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

After almost 120 years in the Natural History Museum collections, a new Colombian bird has been discovered, and proclaimed extinct.



List of search results for natural history museum