The University Museum of Zoology

Several classmates approached me today to see if I wanted to join them on their visit to the University Museum of Zoology Cambridge, on Downing Street. It was within walking distance, there was no charge for admission, and I had nothing to do, so I accepted.

The museum houses approximately two thousand so-called "type specimens," that is, original specimens from which new species are named. The museum is also somewhat famous because it houses several specimens (specimens is a big buzz word in zoology, apparently) from Darwin's voyage on the Beagle to the Galapagos island. As you probably know, this voyage is notable because it formed the basis for Darwin's theory of evolution. Darwin, of course, attended Christ's College. The building itself seems rather small for a museum, at least compared to, say, the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian or the Chicago Field Museum. But it is just packed with creatures of all sizes, from the world's smallest beetle (it looks like a speck of dust) all the way to the huge finback whale skeleton, which is so large it must be displayed above the entrance outside the museum. They even had to hang stuff from the ceiling:


There are also some pretty big bugs. This grasshopper is a good example:


Yes, that was labeled as a grasshopper. It looks like it could eat my finger off.

There are even some archaeological finds, most notably the skeleton of the extinct giant ground sloth, possibly the highlight of the whole museum. Picture an herbivorous bear that looks like a sloth, then add some size. I couldn't get a good picture of the skeleton at the museum, but here's a good example:


Let's just say that I wouldn't want to run into one of those, ever.