Natural History Museum, London, UK

[Patrx]

I've been on the lookout for a figure of the Colombian mammoth for ages, but I've never seen one! If there is one out there, I'd be interested to hear of it.

[Takama]

I've been on the lookout for a figure of the Colombian mammoth for ages, but I've never seen one! If there is one out there, I'd be interested to hear of it.

http://stores.dansdinosaurs.com/columbian-mammoth-resin-kit-by-lu-feng-shan/

[Patrx]

Ah, yes! I had forgotten about that. It's magnificent, but beyond my current purchasing power by a fair margin.

[laticauda]

I tend to forget the resin models.  Way beyond my means at this time, but it is a worthy sculpt. 

[Patrx]

That particular sculptor has a very distinct and elegant style. His Styracosaurus is especially lovely.

[suspsy]

Oy. Yeah, that's an impressive statue, but I reckon I'll spend my $500 on a whole ton of toys instead. Or, you know, food.

[suspsy]

Here are a few remaining photos. First, a shot of the museum exterior.

10458489_10152592450449295_5530467741973556252_n by Suspsy Three, on Flickr

The great hall. The Diplodocus tail is visible at the bottom. I maintain that it's a mistake to get rid of it.

10547453_10152592450434295_2858251032696163745_n by Suspsy Three, on Flickr

Sitting on the landing of the stairway is a statue of one of my personal heroes.

10440110_10152592450229295_2489273660308889540_n by Suspsy Three, on Flickr

Here is a rare first edition of the Origin of Species.

10517591_10152592450259295_3156583497989522246_n by Suspsy Three, on Flickr

And here's another hero of mine, Thomas Huxley, AKA Darwin's Bulldog. One of the first and fiercest proponents of evolutionary theory. On first hearing of Darwin's ideas, he was said to have exclaimed, "How stupid for not thinking of that myself!" And he was one of the first scientists to propose a link between dinosaurs and birds.

10478229_10152592450284295_5380346030091222357_n by Suspsy Three, on Flickr

And that is the end at last.

[HD-man]

And now we come to the main dinosaur display, the design of which is terrible. It's poorly lit, it's full of outdated information, and it gets so crowded on the second level catwalk that it becomes impossible to pause and look at the displays without someone asking you to keep moving. It seriously needs to be revamped.

For what it's worth, the book is MUCH better ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R2URWS93D4PO4C/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ).

[suspsy]

Restored these photos!

[BlueKrono]

What a fantastic album. I'd love to get to this museum someday. In response to the bear question, gracile limbs don't preclude predation by any means. Just look at a cheetah. Perhaps Arctodus was a chase predator, very different than the hunting styles extant bears utilize.

[suspsy]

It's a cool museum, but as I noted before, I'd like to see the dinosaur hall completely gutted and revamped in a more modern format that's easier to navigate.

[Crackington]

Hope I'm not reviving a zombie thread, but I was looking for somewhere to put some snaps of my recent visit to the Museum, but thought the Titanosaur exhibition thread wasn't the right place.

This was also my first visit since COVID, but I think I can follow on neatly from Suspsy's prophetic point about changing the main hall. Well, they certainly did, replacing Dippy with the giant blue whale skeleton:



I think it looks great and you can get a good view of it from the higher galleries in the hall (I don't remember being able to get up there previously). It looks like it's about to scoop up human krill in the photo!

There was some controversy about taking out Dippy (now on a UK tour) and I was sorry to see her go. However the whale and the Museum go back a long way, a skeleton in Victorian times and this giant model, a star from the 1930s still on display in the Mammals Hall:



This is the likely reason for the inclusion of the whale in the Invicta models.

I'll show some prehistoric pics soon 

[SidB]

Glad to see this thread re-e.erge into the land of the living, @Crackington . Thanks for revisiting it with the update.

[ceratopsian]

You could look down on Dippy from the upper galleries, at least you could the last time I visited when the cast was still in situ.

[HD-man]

And now we come to the main dinosaur display, the design of which is terrible. It's poorly lit, it's full of outdated information, and it gets so crowded on the second level catwalk that it becomes impossible to pause and look at the displays without someone asking you to keep moving. It seriously needs to be revamped.

For what it's worth, the book is MUCH better ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R2URWS93D4PO4C/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ).

  & the newer book is even better ( https://www.amazon.com/review/R3VQ7TMT8EFOC7/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8 ).

[Crackington]

Thanks Ceratopsian, I probably didn't realise you could get up there previously. There were some interesting exhibits in the walk ways though so worth checking it out, as well as for the view of the main hall.

Aside from losing Dippy, the exhibits in the side alcoves around the hall had also been changed. This included a great mount of Mantellisaurus, close to the main entrance:



On leaving the Titanosaur special exhibition, you come out in the stunning marine reptile hall, one of my favourite parts of the Museum. Here's one for Dr Admin, who will recognise this cast of Rhomaleosaurus which he worked on in the Dublin Museum:



Finally, a word on the Museum shop(s). There had been some improvements since my last visit with Papo now on sale with the underwhelming Toyway range. Still not great though and I wish they'd hook up with Collecta.

The books, prints and other stuff is better and I came across these nice prints of Neave Parker artwork with a modern twist:



I wonder if Andy Warhol ever visited back in the day!

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

I got to visit both the NHM London and AMNH in New York within a few days of each other recently, and since they both had Patagotitan displays at the time, I decided to compare them! I should do full reviews of both museums, but until then, here's my Patagotitan comparison post!

https://dinodadreviews.com/2024/01/04/a-tale-of-two-titanosaurs/