Something fishy! I had the privilege of creating a number of illustrations for this new exhibition under the expert guidance of @nitroshutter.bsky.social and his colleagues at Birmingham University. It runs from November 12th to February 28th. I’ll be visiting, and hope you will too!

A reminder that the Museum is closed tomorrow (Friday 7th November 2025). We will resume normal opening hours on Saturday 8th November.

James Lomax (1857–1934) was born in Lancashire. He followed his father as a colliery manager before the #plant #fossils of the Coal Measures piqued his curiosity. Lomax was interested in #microscopy and, with his own son, manufactured thin sections for #palaeobotanists. Image by Greg Milner.

A reminder that the Museum is closed this Friday 7th November. We apologise for any inconvenience. Normal opening hours will resume on Saturday 8th November. Thank you for your understanding!

Grab your snorkels and dive back in time with us - our new temporary #exhibition Feeding Without Jaws opens on Weds 12 Nov. The exhibition explores cutting-edge palaeontological research on the lives of unusual ancient fishes. For more info: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/feedi... #LapworthRocks

Psilomelane is a group of hard manganese oxide #minerals, erroneously known as 'black haematite' despite having no relation to true haematite! Image by Greg Milner. #MineralMonday #LapworthRocks #geologyrocks #geology #museum

How does peatland restoration affect microbes and carbon dynamics in upland blanket bogs? Delve into the world of mighty microbes with Alice Whittle @acwhittle.bsky.social at our next Lapworth Lecture on Mon 24 Nov, available on campus and on Zoom. More info: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/lapwo...

There are over 20, 000 species of trilobite - all in different shapes and sizes! Trilobites are among the most successful early animals, living in oceans for almost 300 million years, before becoming extinct at the end of the Permian. Image by Greg Milner. #TrilobiteTuesday #LapworthRocks

As Halloween is in one week's time, we thought it would be fitting to share this image of a brown long-eared bat specimen! Its uses hearing to hunt rather than echolocation, capable of hearing the movements of prey such as moths, beetles, flies, and spiders. Image by Greg Milner. #LapworthRocks

Join us for our first #LapworthLecture of the autumn next Mon 27th Oct! With Dr Daniel Villar on the importance of fieldwork for macroecology and macroevolution. 🕠 17:30 📌 WG12, Aston Webb A-Block, University of Birmingham or Zoom For more info and Zoom registration: www.birmingham.ac.uk...

Pikes are known for their sharp teeth, but did you know they can grow over a metre in length? This specimen is from Humphrey's Odontological Collection. Image by Greg Milner. #ToothyTuesday #LapworthRocks #teeth #pike #fossil #fossils #palaeo #paleo #palaeontology #paleontology #geology #museum

This mammoth tusk fossil has an interesting backstory of how it was found: in a fishing net above Doggerland, an area of land now submerged under the southern North Sea! Image by Greg Milner. #FossilFriday #LapworthRocks #fossils #fossil #palaeontology #mammoth #IceAge #geology #museum

Did you know we have a string quartet performing at the Museum? Next Thurs 23 Oct, the Sekine Quartet will play a tribute to the best of #Bollywood music. Celebrate #Diwali season with us and book your tickets! bollywood-sekine-lapworth.eventbrite.co.uk?aff=bluesky #StringQuartet #LiveMusic

We have plenty of events on this autumn at the Museum, including movie nights, musical performances, quiz nights and more! Head over to our Linktree for more information and booking: linktr.ee/lapwortheven... #LapworthRocks #LapworthEvents #MuseumEvents #BirminghamEvents #Dinosaur #Museum #Geology

Our Assistant Curator recently spent a day at the internationally important ‘dinosaur highway’. Discover what he learned at www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2025/a-... #LapworthRocks #museum #geology #palaeontology #paleontology #dinosaurs #Jurassic #geologyrocks #fossils

For anybody not in the UK, Dan’s talk will be live on Zoom and then later on the Museum’s YouTube channel 🦜 less than a fortnight to wait!

Dr Daniel Villar @daniel-a-villar.bsky.social will speak about the importance of #fieldwork for macroecology & macroevolution at our next #LapworthLecture. Free to attend, open to everyone. 📅 Mon 27 Oct, 17:30 📌 WG12, Aston Webb A-Block, Uni of Bham / Zoom For more info: www.birmingham.ac.uk...

This Okenite mineral specimen may look like it contains cotton balls or mould, but in fact these are clusters of very fine crystals. Image by Greg Milner. #MineralMonday #LapworthRocks #okenite #crystals #crystal #museum #minerals #mineral #geology

It may be getting colder, but at least it's not this frosty! This photograph was taken on a Uni of Bham field trip to Svalbard in 1951. The photo is in our exhibition celebrating 125 years of student life and research centred around the Museum - visit before it ends on 31 Oct! #ThrowbackThursday

Where do volcanic bombs get their shape from? They become rounded due to cooling and solidifying mid-air after they are ejected from the volcano during an eruption. Image by Greg Milner. #LapworthRocks #TectonicTuesday #volcano #volcanic #tectonic #rocks #rock #geology #museum

It's October now and we are getting autumnal vibes from this pteridosperm specimen, also known as a seed fern. What are your favourite things about autumn? 🍁 Image by Greg Milner. #LapworthRocks #FloraFriday #Autumn #fossils #fossil #fern #palaeontology #paleontology #museum #geologyrocks

The Vesey Club was founded as a literary and scientific society in Birmingham by Benjamin Stone (1838–1914), a good friend of Charles Lapworth (1842–1920). Lapworth was a member, and took part in the 1890 visit to Norway where he was responsible for the geological excursions! Image by Greg Milner.

Dr Daniel Villar (Durham University) @daniel-a-villar.bsky.social will speak about the importance of fieldwork for macroecology and macroevolution at our next Lapworth Lecture, open to everyone and free to attend both on campus and remotely. 🕠 Mon 27 Oct, 5:30pm More info: www.birmingham.ac.uk...

Photogrammetry uses multiple overlapping photographs to create a 3D model, and can digitally recreate all sorts of impressive details. Just look at the original ink label and stunning septa of this Acervularia coral! Explore this digital model at: https://skfb.ly/6EnTG.

Kyanite, also known as disthene or cyanite, is an aluminium silicate mineral found in metamorphic pegmatites and sedimentary rocks. It typically forms sprays of bladed crystals, and is often blue in colour, though can be found in white or light green. Image by Greg Milner. #MineralMonday

#OnThisDay Charles Lapworth was born, one of the most influential geologists of the late 19th & 20th centuries. We have an event on 6 Oct relating to Lapworth's work, all about peculiar palaeontology! Join us & see how science has evolved since 1900. Book your free place: peculiar-palaeontolo...

Arachnida is the class of arthropods famously containing spiders and scorpions, alongside ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvesters, and solifuges. Fossils in the arachnid order Uraraneida have been dated as old as the Devonian, approximately 387 million years ago! Image by Greg Milner.

Dogs were not always by our side, but there is some evidence that domestication occurred simultaneously in different regions, with early dogs found in Germany and Siberia, both dated to 33,000 – 36,000 years old. Post by Elijah L. I. Wait.

Step back in time with us... to learn all about peculiar #palaentology! Hear from Prof. Lapworth himself on the weird and wonderful world of early 1900s palaeontology, then from modern-day experts on how science has evolved our understanding of fossils. 📅 Mon 6 Oct, 18:30 peculiar-palaeontolo...

Black Country-born John Shaw (1873–1948) constructed his prototype seismograph using anything he could get his hands on, from tin cans to old bicycle parts. This is Shaw’s own instrument, which he used in the seismic recording station at his home in West Bromwich. Image by Greg Milner.

This specimen represents Paleodictyon. They first appear in the geological record as far back as the Precambrian/Early Cambrian, and exist to this day. Despite efforts, scientists have been unable to identify which organism creates these enigmatic hexagonal structures. Post by Elijah L. I. Wait.

Put on The Wombats, this #ToothyTuesday we’re looking at Phascolomys, a giant wombat from the Pleistocene! Found in Australia, these incisors are similar to those of wombats today. They helped Phascolomys tear through tough plants, and continuously grew to combat wear. Post by Charley Pearson.

These specimens show Didymograptus murchisoni, graptolites collected from Abereiddy Bay in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Graptolites are incredibly useful as index fossils, and Abereiddy is a fantastic locality, I recommend a visit if you're in the area. Post by Elijah L. I. Wait.

Update to Museum opening times 🦖 Until Fri 29 Aug 2025 inclusive, Mon to Fri - 10:00 till 17:00 From Mon 1 Sept 2025 inclusive, Mon to Fri - 10:00 till 16:00 Sat and Sun opening times will not change - 12:00 till 17:00 as usual For more info: www.birmingham.ac.uk... #LapworthRocks

Terrible photo, but this is a late nineteenth-century educational model of Pareiasaurus, on display in the '125 years of research and education at the Lapworth Museum of Geology' exhibition at the @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social. Don't see many of those around.

For #FossilFriday, this cast shows just how big T. rex teeth would be, with the crown (the part you would be able to see) and its root (the part hidden inside the jaws). They are serrated and typically have an oval base, distinguishing them from Nanotyrannus teeth. Post by Charley Pearson.

#Throwback to 2019 when Mary Anning visited the Museum to talk about the fossils she'd found on the #Jurassic Coast in Dorset! Our final #FamilyFun event of the summer is next Weds 27 August, this time we explore the #fossils of the #WestMidlands. For more info: www.birmingham.ac.uk...

While they may be hard to see through all the other little bones, this week’s #ToothyTuesday is the jaws of a mole (along with the full skeleton)! Moles use their small, sharp teeth to not only grip onto slippery prey, but males also use them when fighting for territory. Post by Charley Pearson.

Please note the Museum will be closed on Monday 25th August 2025 due to the August Bank Holiday. Normal opening hours will resume on Tuesday 26th August 2025. We hope everyone enjoys their Bank Holiday!

This strange object is actually a belemnite phragmocone. Belemnites are an extinct group of cephalopods that lived for ~135 million years, during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Phragmocones would have been used to regulate the creature’s buoyancy, like modern cuttlefish! Post by Charley Pearson.

Look at this amazing Paleochiropteryx tupaidon cast, a species of Eocene bat! The elongated phalanges, present in all bats, form the wing, along with the patagium. The patagium is visible here, and the two different placements show how the wing attaches to the fingers. Post by Charley Pearson.

This Acheulean handaxe was collected in Sturry, Kent. This style tool is the longest used tool in human history, with the oldest dating to 1.6-1.75 million years ago. These tools are unusually common, leading academics to suggest they played a role in sexual selection. Post by Elijah L. I. Wait.

Did you know a genus of #dinosaur, Stellasaurus, was named after Starman by David Bowie? ⭐ Speaking of #DavidBowie, we are excited to have the Major Toms perform a tribute to Bowie at the Museum on Thurs 20 Nov! Grab the last few early bird tickets: themajortoms-lapwort...#dinosaur,#DavidBowie,#WhatsNewWednesday

What can we learn about the composition of our Earth? What are tectonic plates? Find out in our learning sessions, available for primary and secondary schools: ow.ly/UPi350WBbc3 #TectonicTuesday #LapworthRocks #learning #schools #geology

Are you set to explore the campus like never before? Final free tickets available, get them now! Tue 12 Aug - ow.ly/JuaF50WtNcu #LapworthRocks #geologyrocks #walking #nature #event #geology #history

Happy #MolluscMonday! This Trochus nigropunctatus gastropod is a species of sea snail, and comes from our Holcroft collection. Have you been to the beach this year? Did you find any seashells? #LapworthRocks #MolluskMonday #fossils #fossil #museum #geology #shell #palaeo #palaeontology

Some photos this #FossilFriday from the Family Fun Day I hosted at @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social on Wednesday!!!! It was such an amazing day!!! Hundreds of people, plenty of plants, and Rory dressing up all fancy for the occasion!!! #paleontology #paleobotany #plants #scicomm #botany #MuseumSelfie

Eophrynus prestvicii, the Coseley Spider, is an extremely well-preserved, 300-million-year-old #arachnid discovered near Dudley. Though it looks like modern #spiders, it was unable to spin a web, instead catching prey using powerful jaws! #FossilFriday #LapworthRocks #geology #palaeontology

Roman pottery, Jurassic trees, a mine shaft? Learn all about the iconic University grounds in our campus geowalks. Free tickets are nearly gone, be sure to grab one so you don't miss out! Tue 12 Aug - ow.ly/JuaF50WtNcu #LapworthRocks #geologyrocks #walking #nature #event #geology #history

We are excited to announce the incredible Major Toms will be performing at the Lapworth Museum! Playing a tribute to #DavidBowie amongst #dinosaurs, this show is not one to be missed! 📅 Thurs 20 Nov, 7:30pm 🎫 Early bird tickets from £13.70 themajortoms-lapwort...#DavidBowie#dinosaurs,Artwork: Molly Pack