Let's celebrate! According to Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA) the Museum saw the highest visitor numbers EVER in 2025! We welcomed 877,437 visitors in 2025, which is a 5% increase from our 2024 numbers.

I'm looking forward to returning to the Oxford Museum of Natural History on 9 May! I'll be schm-oozing with Bi-Curious George, @jazzywildheart.bsky.social & @connorbutler.bsky.social prior to George's new show, Snail Trail. 🐌🏳️‍🌈🐌🏳️‍⚧️🐌 www.oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/bi-cur... @morethanadodo.bsky.social #queer

Dive into the wonderful world of pond life! Join us for a free, fun, hands-on event where kids can discover the amazing creatures that live in ponds. Make your own pond-themed craft to take home and get an up-close look at real museum specimens. March 30 & 31 from 13:00-16:00 For ages 3+

'If everyone were cast in the same mould, there would be no such thing as beauty.' - C. Darwin

Enjoy a day out at the Museum this spring. Whether you want to come for a wander during the day, join in one of our family-friendly activities, or pop in for an evening lecture, we're a wonderful choice when it comes to free things to do in Oxford.

Tomorrow, Friday 20 March at 19:00, join Steve White and Darren Naish as they discuss the story behind Mesozoic Art II, a grand new compendium of 21st century palaeoart. https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/event/mesozoic-art-ii-dinosaurs-and-other-ancient-animals-in-art

Models of creatures, ancient and modern, can help us visualise them in ways we might not otherwise be able to. This Acanthostega gunnari is an ancient tetrapod that lived in the late Devonian.

4000 people visited the Oxford Natural History Museum for Super Science Saturday! @morethanadodo.bsky.social 🧪 From exploring sheddings to handling specimens, it was amazing to see so many children and their families excited about scales and locomotion 🐍 Future herpetologists in the making!

It is all hands on deck once again! If you have been visiting the Museum over the last few years you will have seen our re-display project moving steadily throughout the main court. So, pardon any construction you might see over the next two months... but something exciting is on the way!

Our temporary exhibition Breaking Ground will be leaving 13 April, so make sure to visit before it leaves! You can get your hands on this model archaeopteryx fossil and see the first dinosaur fossils to ever be described by science (found right here in Oxfordshire!).

🚨 Call for Abstracts 🚨 Abstract submission now open for a symposium meeting on #MarineReptile palaeontology hosted at @morethanadodo.bsky.social from 7-8th October 2026. Abstract deadline: 1st June 2026 #Palaeontology #Science #SciComm

Our latest In Conversation interview features Ross Anderson! Hear from Ross about his research on Proterozoic life, working as Head of Research at @morethanadodo.bsky.social, and moving from Gotham to Harvard… www.earth.ox.ac.uk/article/eart...

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.

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

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.

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.

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

How are you feeling today? Is it more Paradise Tanager or Peanut Bug?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 [email protected] 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!

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

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

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.

Oxford’s Wytham Woods has a long history as a venue for ecology research and are, despite their timeless appearance, a place of constant change. Learn more about what researchers are uncovering ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4rGXwI3

The National Archives publishes ‘A Year in Archives’ each year to celebrate the work of archives across the UK. Our newly acquired Buckland Archive and related Breaking Ground exhibition (on now!) were chosen as a Highlight this year. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sec...

You’re 18 years old, an orphan, and your uncle and guardian has just been thrown in debtor’s prison. You have no other family around you. What do you do? Well, if you’re John Phillips (1800–1874), you attempt to run a lithographic printing business out of your uncle’s house.

The Museum of Natural History is seeking contemporary art work for our upcoming exhibition, with a total budget of £7000. Please note that that this must include all costs including artist time, shipping, fees, production, and travel (if necessary).

We are currently hiring for a Digital Assets Management System (DAMS) Manager. They will be responsible for ensuring that the museum’s digital assets are managed and used effectively for collections management, research, teaching, and public engagement. Apply now! oumnh.web.ox.ac.uk/dams-manager

Spent a lovely couple of hours sketching dinosaur skellingtons at @morethanadodo.bsky.social today. My sketching style is ever so slightly looser than my insect drawing style. A bit.

We asked @dremmanicholls.bsky.social what exactly needs to happen for dinosaur footprints to be preserved like those found in Oxfordshire. The answer is such a specific set of circumstances you'll be amazed that any have been found at all...

Need to grab some goodies for the holidays? Look no further than our shop! This is the first holiday season you will also be able to shop online with us! shop.oumnh.ox.ac.uk