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Natural History Museum

 

Collection of more than 70 million specimens including a full-size blue whale skeleton.

Discover the earth's history and its future by perusing a collection of more than 70 million specimens, from the very grand to the exceedingly small.

Immortalised in the 1975 family film One Of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing, the Natural History Museum has been enthralling the public with its exhibits since Easter Monday in 1881 in a building designed by young architect Alfred Waterhouse. The collection boasts more than 70 million specimens from the very grand (a full size blue whale skeleton) to the microscopic samples on thousands of slides.

The life and earth science collections of the Museum comprise some 70 million specimens or items, gathered over 400 years. The collections cover virtually all groups of animals, plants, minerals and fossils from all across the world, and even the universe. Find out how the collections started, who looks after them and how they affect our everyday life.