Cambridge University Museum of Zoology

The Cambridge University Museum of Zoology is a museum of the University of Cambridge and part of the research community of the Department of Zoology. The Museum houses an extensive collection of scientifically important zoological material. The collections were designated in 1998 by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (now managed by the Arts Council England) as being of outstanding historical and international importance.

The Museum of Zoology is on the New Museums Site, just north of Downing Street in central Cambridge, England. Admission is currently free (2013).

University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge
Giant Finback whale at the Museum of Zoology
Country	United Kingdom
Location	Cambridge
Collection
Items collected	Fossils, vertebrates, Birds, Insects, Molluscs, Invertebrates
Other information
Director	Professor Paul Brakefield
Website	www.museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk

A History of the Museum

Much of the Museum’s material derives from the great collecting expeditions of the 19th century, which provided the first documentation of the fauna in many parts of the world. The earliest exhibits come from the Harwood anatomical collection which was purchased in 1814. The museum added further collections including birds from Swainson and animals from the Cambridge Philosophical Society, to which Charles Darwin himself had contributed.

Past Superintendents of the museum include: William Clark 1817-1866, John Willis Clark 1866-1892, Sidney Frederic Harmer 1892-1908, Reginald Crundall Punnett 1908-1909, and Leonard Doncaster 1909-1914.

The Museum was moved into the current purpose-designed building during 1968–70. Five separate stores currently house the collection of specimens.

The Museum Collections

Many of the collections were assembled during the nineteenth century, which was a key period for the development of modern biology. Much of the material was accumulated between 1865 and 1915 through private collections and expeditions. Cambridge was a centre of major importance for the development of biology, and several of the individuals associated with the Museum were central figures in the most active areas of scientific debate.

Collections and letters from various collectors are on display, including collections of:

• F.M. Balfour, Professor of Zoology
• George Robert Crotch, entomologist
• Charles Darwin, Naturalist
• Sir Clive Forster-Cooper, former Director of the Museum
• John Henry Gurney Sr., banker and amateur ornithologist
• James Hepburn, Ornithologist
• Reverend Leonard Jenyns, originally chosen as the naturalist for the voyage of HMS Beagle
• Robert MacAndrew, amateur naturalist and shell-collector
• Alfred Newton, zoologist and ornithologist.
• Hugh Strickland, ornithologist
• William Swainson, ornithologist
• Alfred Russel Wallace, co-originator of the theory of natural selection
• Henry Woodward, geologist

A 21.3 m (70 ft) finback whale skeleton is displayed at the entrance of the museum. Skeletons and preserved skins of many extinct animals are housed in the museum. Most of the fish specimens are stored in spirit, some of them having been collected by Darwin himself on the voyage of HMS Beagle from 1831 - 1836. The bird collection consists of skins, eggs and skeletal material. There are skeletal remains from extinct birds such as the dodo from Mauritius and the solitaire from Rodrigues in the collection. The insect collection contains specimens collected by Darwin from around Cambridge. Collections of molluscs, corals and other sea-dwellers offer insight into the biological diversity of the oceans.

See also

• Museums in Cambridge
• Natural history museums

External links

• Museum website