We hope you are all enjoying the holidays!

Another week, another object. What is going on here?

Object of the week

Did you know what the Christmas object of the week was?

Starfish - Star of Wonder

Star of wonder, star of night…   well done if you knew this was a starfish.

Starfish are in the phylum Echinodermata (=spiny skin) along with sea urchins and sea cucumbers. Most starfish have five arms but some have ten or more.

If you turn a starfish over you can see the tiny tube feet they use to move around. The colour of this huge starfish has faded but was most likely a bright orange or red.

Every week we show you a close up of one of the objects in the museum. If you don’t know what it is you can visit us and hunt for it yourself!

This week there is a Christmas theme to the object. What could this be?

Object of the week

Did you know what last week’s object of the week was?

Spiny-tailed Lizard

Well done if you knew this was a Spiny-tailed Lizard (Uromastyx sp).

These Lizards live in rocky desert habitats where they can bask in the sun during the day and hide away in chambers beneath the ground when danger is near.

The tail is muscular and can be swung with great speed, used to defend against attackers (Uromastyx from the Greek ourá=tail and mastigo=whip/scourge).

Every week we show you a close up of one of the objects on display. Shortly after entering the museum you will encounter this object – but what is it?

Object of the week

Did you know what last week’s object of the week was?

Corn cockle

Well done if you knew it was a Corn cockle (Agrostemma githago)

This specimen was collected by Revd. Francis John Ottley in 1857, in the cornfields near Eton. All of his plant specimens were mounted on blue paper which makes them easy to recognise.

Many of the species he collected at that time were cornfield weeds that no longer grow here due to the increasing use of herbicides.

The Corn cockle which was once so abundant on farms is now close to extinction in Britain.

Every week we show you a close up of one of the objects in the museum. Do you know which plant this flower belongs to?

(Hint: only one herbarium specimen on display has a blue background. It was once a very common sight in Britain)

Object of the week: what is this?

Did you know what last week’s object of the week was?

Well done if you knew you were looking at the nose (or rostrum to call it by the proper name) of a Sawfish. Sawfish are Rays which means they have cartilage rather than bone. They use their incredible saw-like rostrum to detect prey hiding at the bottom of the ocean and then dig it out and kill it.

All Sawfish are critically endangered, often caught as bycatch or for use in folk medicine.