Grant Museum of Zoology

The Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy was established in 1828 by Robert Edmond Grant (1793-1874) to serve as a teaching collection at the newly founded University of London (later University College London).

The Grant Museum has around 68,000 zoological specimens. Notable specimens include the world’s rarest skeleton, the quagga; thylacine specimens; dodo bones and fine collection of models including the Blaschka glass models, Ziegler wax models, and Vernon Edwards extinct fish models.

The collection contains specimens from a number of former university collections such as Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London in addition to material from London Zoo and various London hospital comparative anatomy collections. The museum also has specimens from the collections of Thomas Henry Huxley, Karl Pearson, Victor Negus and Doris Mackinnon, and material from the Discovery Expedition and Challenger Expedition. The collection contains a wide range of material including; fluid preserved, pinned entomology, taxidermy, freeze-dried and skeletal specimens.

The Grant Museum has been in continuous use by students at UCL since 1828 and first opened to the public in 1996.