Today is International Women's Day and we're celebrating Mary Buckland! Buckland was a naturalist and illustrator who's work is being celebrated in our current special exhibition, Breaking Ground.
This photo is one of our most recent acquisitions and was donated by a descendant of the Bucklands.
Left, photograph of a man in a dark coat and light waistcoat, standing next to a bookcase; right, a fossil fish in a dark stone frame.
5 March 1807, Shropshire: birth of Beriah Botfield, antiquarian, bibliographer, collector, MP. He attended the geology lectures of William Buckland at Oxford and in 1829 purchased a Dapedium & a small ichthyosaur from #MaryAnning & gave them to Buckland. They're still @morethanadodo.bsky.social
05.03.2026 10:50 — 👍 15 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
In honour of World Wildlife Day today and World Book Day later this week, @JoannaBagniewska.com wanted to share with you a few facts about baby dragonfly butts from her book The Modern Bestiary...
You can find the book, described as 'unhinged' by the GoodReads reviews, here: buff.ly/1V42ef3
Our touchable minerals will be temporarily off display as we move forward with our re-display project. While we work on updating the final cases in the main court some parts of the Museum will be temporarily closed to visitors from now through April.
https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/life-as-we-know-it
Today is World Wildlife Day!
The theme is 'Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Conserving health, heritage and livelihoods'
25% of drugs used in modern medicine are derived from plant species native to rainforests. Deforestation could be wiping out life saving medicines that have yet to be discovered.
We can all have a hand in creating a sustainable future. In our Future In Our Hands case we explore different species held in the hands of people who have different roles and connections to the natural world.
02.03.2026 09:00 — 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
HIRING: CMS Manager
You will provide systems management and user support for the Collections Management System (EMu) used by the Museum of Natural History and the History of Science Museum.
Learn more: https://oumnh.web.ox.ac.uk/cms-manager-0
Last chance to see!
Microsculpture: The insect photography of Levon Biss is leaving 1 March
All the specimens in Microsculpture are drawn from the Museum's entomology collections, selected to show the microscopic form of insects in striking large-format, high-resolution detail.
Last week I was invited to assist with an MSt class for @ox.ac.uk Faculty of History at @morethanadodo.bsky.social to discuss working as a historian with natural history specimens #HistoryOfNaturalHistory #HistoryOfScience #MuseumResearch.
22.02.2026 22:30 — 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
Our wonderful brown bear is coming off of display at the end of this week.
She has been stroked and hugged by more than 1 million visitors in her 8 years she has stood in the main court. After all of this love she is looking a little 'thread-bear' and will be retiring from public life.
Jeannette Villepreux-Power invented the modern aquarium for observing and describing octopuses and argonauts solving the long mystery of how argonauts make their distinctive egg cases.
https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/learn-shout-out-for-women-in-science
We'll have activities happening in the Museum to keep you busy during half time, whether it is one of our free family-friendly trails or our Spectacular Skeletons activities on 16 and 17 of February.
We'll see you there!
Monarch butterflies have evolved a close relationship with milkweed plants. This is the butterfly’s only host plant; the butterflies lay their eggs on it and it is the only plant the caterpillars will eat. The toxins present in milkweed leaves protect the monarch eggs and caterpillars from predators
06.02.2026 09:00 — 👍 18 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
How are you feeling today? Is it more Paradise Tanager or Peanut Bug?
05.02.2026 09:00 — 👍 7 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Volcanology refers to the study of volcanoes. Volcanoes are openings in the Earth's crust that allow molten rock, ash, and gases to escape. Volcanoes can also create rich deposits of copper, gold, silver, diamonds, and lithium, which are minerals useful in many modern technologies.
04.02.2026 09:00 — 👍 8 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Our perception of how dinosaurs may have looked has been (and still is) in constant flux. If you compare this early imagining of an iguanodon to the full skeleton cast in our main court you can spot many differences. We now know that there are flaws in both of these renderings.
03.02.2026 09:00 — 👍 12 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
The European polecat is found across western Eurasia and North Africa. They were persecuted as being a pest animal in Britain, first declared as such under the reign of Elizabeth I. Due to hunting by farmers their numbers dropped significantly, but have been steadily returning in recent decades.
02.02.2026 09:00 — 👍 20 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0
Wings come in all shapes and sizes and are found across the animal kingdom. They are a phenomenal example of convergent evolution. This means animals evolved structures that are functionally similar but structurally different.
30.01.2026 09:00 — 👍 13 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
A rainbow arching above the Bridge of Sighs in Oxford, framed by historic stone buildings under a clearing grey sky.
A rainbow stretching across the sky above the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, with the observatory tower lit by sunlight after rain.
A double rainbow appearing behind the Radcliffe Observatory building, with trees and rooftops in the foreground under a pale sky.
A wide rainbow spanning across Christ Church Meadow, with historic college buildings and green lawns illuminated by late-afternoon light.
Yesterday brought rainbows to Oxford 🌈
📷 | Patricia Wimmer (Hertford College), Tara Hathaway (Queens College), Berilboz (Green Templeton) and Lydia (Pembroke College)
She is checking to see if you have visited her in Breaking Ground yet.
Our (free!) temporary exhibition Breaking Ground is still open. Drop by to learn about the powerhouse couple William and Mary Buckland and their contributions to palaeontology and geology.
Join us online via Zoom on Fri 6th Feb at 19.00 GMT for our next free talk when @dremmanicholls.bsky.social of @morethanadodo.bsky.social will deliver 'Tales from a Geological Curator'
Members and non-members must register in advance: non-members email sarah@geologistsassociation.org.uk for details
Relaxed Morning Opening
Saturday, 31 January 2026
09.00 - 10.00am @morethanadodo.bsky.social oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/autism... #Autism #AutisminMuseums
We're not really a 'keep your hands to yourself' kind of Museum. Come explore our variety of touchable specimens including hippo skulls, meteorites and real dinosaur fossils!
12.01.2026 10:00 — 👍 20 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Join us every Saturday for a family friendly object handling session and Sundays for Family Friendly Sunday activities which are great for ages 5-8!
https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/events-for-families-and-children
Just published 📄
A special volume of Journal of Insect Biodiversity:
"Fossil insects from the Cretaceous of East Asia" with the description of new Ghilarellinae (Symphyta) from Jinju Formation
🔗 doi.org/10.12976/jib...
@nozomuoyama.bsky.social
We have di-snow-saurs at @morethanadodo.bsky.social!
❄️ ⛄️ 🦖
#dinosaur #snow #OxfordUniversityMuseumofNaturalHistory @ox.ac.uk
Do love Dinosaurs AND Drama?
Join us 30 January to celebrate the 25th anniversary of 'Walking with Dinosaurs' with a new theatrical production adapting two episodes of the television series into Shakespearean drama.
oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/william-shakespeares-walking-with-dinosaurs
Reaching for our New Year goals like this raccoon is reaching for that grasshopper
07.01.2026 12:00 — 👍 8 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1
Wishing you and your families a very happy and colourful New Year! May 2026 bring new experiences, new ideas, and a visit to your favourite Museum
01.01.2026 10:00 — 👍 14 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
We've celebrated 165 Christmases at the Museum. Here's to many more. Happy Christmas to all of those who celebrate.
We are closed the 24, 25, 26 of December but are open throughout the New Year.
