The Perfect Specimen

A large jar with fluid inside and a big brown blob which is a sponge.

Small jar full of liquid, inside is a small brown frog with large pale spots on its legs, side and head. A label the same size as the frog is attached to its leg.

The open pages of a book, on the left page colours are described, on the right page there are small squares of the corresponding colour, along with examples of what is that colour.

If youd like your own copy of the nomenclature of colours you can buy one here: www.nhmshop.co.uk/werner-s-nom...

YouTube video by Natural History Museum Josh quizzes us on the colours of nature | The 'Perfect' Specimen Ep21

New episode today is COLOURFUL! With apologies from @nhcooper123.bsky.social that since recording this one of the papers she talked about has been retracted! Sponge wars continues m.youtube.com/watch?v=O_DN... 🧽 📕 🐸 🪸

Henbane. A dried plant specimen with pale whitish flowers and green spiky leaves, flattened and stuck to card

Small firefly beetle pinned in a box with a label underneath it with information about the species and location it was found. Beetle has a brown body, yellow head and long antennae.

A shiny bee. Bee is iridescent blue and pinned in a drawer. Wings are sticking out and are brown.

Close up of two very flat flatworms in a jar. They are dark on top and light brown underneath and about 3mm thick.

Specimens for this week!

Should have said the word was SEDUCTIVE! 🥰

I *love* the chubby little grease fish 🥺

YouTube video by Natural History Museum Did witches ride broomsticks? Our guest explains why we might think so | The 'Perfect' Specimen Ep20

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! Please enjoy the delightful @beetlequeen.bsky.social telling us about witchy plants and lovable bums! m.youtube.com/watch?v=2qNL... 🌱 🐛 Plus some penis fencing flatworms… 🤺

I was so lucky to be part of @nhcooper123.bsky.social lab group when the 'greasefish' was an amazing topic of conversation. What a bizarre and unfortunately likely extinct creature! The folds instantly reminded me of the breadbugs in Pikmin... Really fun episode as always!

What is a mosasaur? Facts about Mosasaurus and its relatives | Natural History Museum What is Mosasaurus? Is a mosasaur a dinosaur? Find out all about these ancient ocean predators.

And last but not least, an explainer on some very enigmatic marine reptiles - the mosasaurs!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/wha...

Fossil mammals behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum | Natural History Museum In the first of a new series, curator Dr Neil Adams shares the stories and science of the fossil mammal collection.

What's happening in the Fossil Mammal Collection at the NHM? I found out!
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/beh...

Contents of jars collected by Charles Darwin revealed in new scans | Natural History Museum Almost two centuries after Charles Darwin’s pioneering voyage, his specimens are still inspiring groundbreaking new science.

Got a bit of a backlog of articles again, but here's what I've been working on recently!

First up, why open a jar when you can find out what's inside using lasers?
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Christmas Island shrew. Small stuffed brown shrew with a label attached to it. Next to it a test tube containing a tiny skull from the shrew.

Close up of the head of a Christmas Island shrew

Grease fish specimen in a jar. Looks like a fish version of the Michelin man with tires of fat

Close up of the head of the grease fish. It has a very small eye and the typical “whiskers” of a catfish.

YouTube video by Natural History Museum Why can no-one remember the time they used fish as candles? | The 'Perfect' Specimen Ep19

New episode today is ELUSIVE! @nhcooper123.bsky.social and @joshlukedavis.com share stories of strange fishes, noisy shrews, and mysterious trees www.youtube.com/watch?v=eORr... 🐟🌲🐀. In case there is any doubt, we do not recommend using any animals as candles...🕯️

I got to use some really special specimens for this one. Only 10 specimens of greasefish exist! And the poor Christmas Island shrew is now extinct but this one was collected when there were so many, and they were so noisy, they kept people awake at night!

Christmas Island shrew. Small stuffed brown shrew with a label attached to it. Next to it a test tube containing a tiny skull from the shrew.

Close up of the head of a Christmas Island shrew

Grease fish specimen in a jar. Looks like a fish version of the Michelin man with tires of fat

Close up of the head of the grease fish. It has a very small eye and the typical “whiskers” of a catfish.

YouTube video by Natural History Museum Why can no-one remember the time they used fish as candles? | The 'Perfect' Specimen Ep19

New episode today is ELUSIVE! @nhcooper123.bsky.social and @joshlukedavis.com share stories of strange fishes, noisy shrews, and mysterious trees www.youtube.com/watch?v=eORr... 🐟🌲🐀. In case there is any doubt, we do not recommend using any animals as candles...🕯️

Jurassic amphibian with a projectile tongue named as a new species | Natural History Museum A new species of amphibian that lived 150 million years ago has been discovered in Portugal.

Scientists have recently discovered a Jurassic amphibian that had a projectile tongue!

The new species has been named Nabia civiscientrix after the local community of citizen scientists that helped to discover the fossil.

Find out more 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

YouTube video by Natural History Museum Natalie finds herself doing an impression of a pufferfish | The 'Perfect' Specimen Ep18

Time for ARTISTIC! This week featuring special guest @andreahart.bsky.social from @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social who shares some incredible stories from our collections. m.youtube.com/watch?v=nVTU...

Messor structor ants pinned in a box

Wild cabbage specimen on a herbarium sheet

Forgot to post the specimens for this! Here’s the tiny ants and the lovely wild cabbage. 🐜 🥬

Cute lil pufferfish in a jar

Cute lil painting of a pufferfish in an old book

Here’s the cute lil pufferfish in a jar and from the book.

When @joshlukedavis.com and @nhcooper123.bsky.social come to town, it's always a joy.

Winston the Black Swan and I ended up giving each other some serious side eye.

Stay tuned in June for the pod...

So much fun chatting with Josh and Natalie for this podcast in this brilliant #podcast series! If you like monkeys with “trousers”, blue minerals, blancmange references, pufferfish and botanical art you won’t be disappointed 🤣 #collections #art #museumcolleagues #history #lovemyjob

One day I’ll learn to describe things without also doing the actions 🐡

📚 🖼️ 🎨 🐡 💎🔵

@joshlukedavis.com and @nhcooper123.bsky.social enjoyed this so much they forgot they were recording and just sat flipping through sketch books at one point…

YouTube video by Natural History Museum Natalie finds herself doing an impression of a pufferfish | The 'Perfect' Specimen Ep18

Time for ARTISTIC! This week featuring special guest @andreahart.bsky.social from @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social who shares some incredible stories from our collections. m.youtube.com/watch?v=nVTU...

Symposium | Exploring Queerness in Natural History A one-day, interdisciplinary symposium centring LGBTQ+ inclusion in the environmental sector.

The programme is out for our Symposium, Exploring Queerness in Natural History, on 5 February.

We're excited to hear from our Symposium Curators, Connor Butler and @aquadan1.bsky.social, as well as talks from Simon Goldhill, @canopyrobin.com and @rossbrooks.co.uk. (1/3)

buff.ly/jc6Unz7

I spend a fair amount of time talking about this amazing ant paper from last year: www.nature.com/articles/s41... where the females produce offspring of two different species! Wild! 🐜

YouTube video by Natural History Museum Josh debunks the myth of ancient cyclopses | The 'Perfect' Specimen Ep17

This week's episode is WILD. Enjoy @nhcooper123.bsky.social explaining how incredibly complex and amazing biology can be, and @joshlukedavis.com sharing some wild stories of some of his favourite species. A nice Mediterranean thread running through this too! www.youtube.com/watch?v=prVe... 🐘 🐝🥬🐜.

YouTube video by Natural History Museum What new species were discovered in 2025? | Natural History Museum

This year, @nhm-london.bsky.social scientists have described 262 new species. Josh talks us though these discoveries, including one by @profpaulbarrett.bsky.social and I.. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfTx...