Mark Brown

It’s World Pangolin Day tomorrow! Why isn’t there an emoji for pangolins? In its absence, here are some pangolins from the @zoologymuseum.bsky.social Museum specimens help define species distributions, aid conservation action, and make a world where we have a better chance of seeing live pangolins 😍

Absolutely! And does a very good job of it 😉

Not hugely numerous, but yes, some nice contents and displays

When your collection derives from a series of sea-borne expeditions, how do you present that? The Regional Natural History Museum in Turin came up with a great solution - this exhibition mocks up the inside of a boat, with each booth representing an expedition @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

@dollyjorgensen.bsky.social we so enjoyed your talk at the @zoologymuseum.bsky.social and so I wondered if you’d seen the bird pairs in the Zoology Museum of Turin University? No consistent height hierarchy in the displays of these birds of paradise

The zoology collection in Turin shares the same building as the herbarium, and I thought this was the most beautiful display @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

Fin whale skeleton at Turin Uni Zoology Museum

Fin whale skeleton at Cambridge University Zoology Museum

The Turin Uni Zoology Museum also has a fin whale, which is 1m longer than ours, but lacks the baleen (side by side for comparison) @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

I also really enjoyed the taxidermy in the Turin Uni Zoology Museum @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

In Turin for the @wildposh.eu AGM, and the Uni Zoology Museum was next door, so what could I do but visit at lunchtime. So, bonus museum posts coming! I loved this amazing light-enhanced elephant (definitely worth watching the whole video) @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

📢 We’re hiring!
We’re looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join our team at @funcagroeco.bsky.social

The position focuses on how collaborative agri-environment measures affect multiple taxa and ecosystem services.

See: www.uni-goettingen.de/en/vacancy+f...

Ants in a museum

Ants 🐜 are my first scientific love, so this week’s post is a reminder of the little creatures that run the world! Ants are dominant predators, herbivores, and ecosystem engineers around the planet. We couldn’t live without them. And they’re also beautiful! @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

Pride in Nature tours poster

Penguin

Giraffe skeleton

It’s LGBTQ+ 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️⚧️ History Month, so let’s celebrate diversity in nature. Our penguin 🐧 and giraffe 🦒 both represent animal groups famous for their same-sex relationships and behaviour. If you want to learn more about non-binary nature, come on one of our tours @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

The effect of stress on pollinator behaviour at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - The effect of stress on pollinator behaviour at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com

New PhD alert! We'll be applying animal welfare ideas to look at how stress affects bees, looking at the effect on bee brains with @lenariab.bsky.social, and working with @sensibee.bsky.social developing new monitoring methods.

Please spread the word! #bees #PhD 🧪

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Yes, but both brown and white - at the wing base, collar, and under the wings

My first queen 🐝 of the year, foraging hard in the beautiful @cubotanicgarden.bsky.social also carrying lots of lovely Parasitellus mites who will help keep her nest clean once she founds it

Heron on punts on the River Cam

Heron on punts on the River Cam

Heron on punts on the River Cam

Heron on punts on the River Cam

Someone had punting plans this morning

Skeletons and casts of a great auk and dodos

Description of great auk

Description of dodo

Description of dodo

Natural history museums can remind us of what we have lost, and thus amplify and empower conservation of species that still exist. This case shows the original ‘penguin’ - the Great Auk - and the iconic Dodo 🦤 - both of which were driven to extinction by Homo sapiens @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

Work or home?

Skeleton of a two-tusked narwhal in the Zoology Museum, Cambridge

This week’s museum specimen is our narwhal skeleton (Monodon monoceros). As the scientific name suggests, this animal should have one tusk, but ours has two! I wonder what this meant for it when it was alive, before it ended up in our Museum 🤔

Everyone needs breakfast

My weekly Museum post - this week is cleaning week, to make sure our specimens, particularly the skeletons, are dust-free. Expert work being done by Kane and Bethany - not sure I should be trusted with a duster yet 🤣 @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

🐜 4-year #postdoc position in the @socialfluids.bsky.social lab @camzoology.bsky.social investigating metabolic cooperation between bodies in a BBSRC-funded project.

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/postdoc...

#ants #socialtransfers #sociallytransferredmaterials #autophagy #socialinsects #aging #job (🧵1/n)

Fin whale skeleton from below at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology

Label describing the fin whale skeleton at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology

Fin whale skeleton from above at the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology

Plaque describing the re-opening of the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology by Sir David Attenborough

In honour of my new job as Director of the University Museum of Zoology at Cambridge University, this is the first of a series of weekly posts celebrating our amazing collection. And what better to start with than the Fin Whale, who will welcome you when you come to visit! @zoologymuseum.bsky.social

First ever evidence that multi-actor collaborative conservation produces biodiversity benefits (as far as I know) doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...

Stingless bees from the Amazon granted legal rights in world first Planet’s oldest bee species and primary pollinators were under threat from deforestation and competition from ‘killer bees’

Legal rights for stingless bees! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

a promo image showing various pages from the book, each page showcasing different animals like an opabinia, a leaf insect, close up of a starfish, and so on. the art featured shows a range of different medium, including digital, pixel art, ceramic, fursuit, post it, and so on.

We present: The Art of #InverteFest - December 2025 Edition
A digital art book showcasing the work of 100 artists from around the world, in celebration of overlooked invertebrate fauna.

Thank you to the artists who contributed to our book!

Download: drive.google.com/file/d/1JCXz...

#Art #SciArt

Classification of Insects - Strepsiptera Strepsiptera (c) Hallvard Elven Artsdatabanken

🎄 Celebrating Christmas Eve's #InsectAdvent order: #Strepsiptera, bizarre & brilliant parasites, and RES mascot since 1833.

Their morphology & history mean they’re rarely seen. Many entomologists describe them as one of the strangest insect orders.

🔗 buff.ly/U7pmiwX

a group of people in matching t-shirts are standing at a table while a man holds up one of several trays of shallow boxes with different types of shells sorted neatly into them

close up of a large spiral shell fossil with ridged bands that grow more pronounced as the spiral gets larger

there is a person in outdoors clothing kneeling at the top of a long sandy slope covered in many small dark shells with a cloudy sky overhead

Last call! We're hiring 👉 Invertebrate Paleontology Collection Manager
📌 Apply by Jan 5, 2026

This position will manage the extensive collections, conduct fieldwork, participate in public outreach & pursue external funding.

🔸 Full info + application: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/nhdept/inver...

A young PI here in Mainz has a fabulous PhD position that will be filled soon! By you? Keywords: Social insects, ageing, gene expression. www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb10-evoluti...

We have TWO post-doctoral fellowships in the Biodiversity Centre at UBC next year! Am happy to chat if you might want to be hosted in my lab. biodiversity.ubc.ca/training-and... Deadline January 15th!