Not all animal specimens in natural history museums are taxidermy.

Sometimes, a painted cast is both simpler to create and looks more realistic. This grass snake cast is part of a diorama scene showing the diversity of British reptiles and amphibians.

Oh, and there's lots of dried moss in it, too!

#NOTNH #WollatonHall #snakes #animals @museum #Mosstodon

I'd like a better #hashtag for the Nottingham Natural History Museum.

In the past I've used #NOTNH, the official abbreviation for the museum cited in research papers and on specimen labels, see picture. But it's not catchy or easy to remember, especially as it seems to be missing the 'M' for 'Museum'.

#NottinghamNaturalHistoryMuseum is an obvious alternative, but that's a lot of characters for a hashtag.

I've considered #NNHM but that's at odds with the official abbreviation.

Any thoughts?

This #ichthyosaur was excavated from the Oxford Clay of Willow Hall Farm, Peterborough, in 2016 & 2017.

It was generously donated to the #Nottingham Natural History Museum, #WollatonHall, last month by the chair of the Peterborough Geology and Palaeontology Group, Richard Forrest (pictured).

It's a bit beaten up but there's lots of bits and it will make a satisfying research project and jigsaw puzzle for a student or volunteer. It hasn't been accessioned yet so that's my next job...

#NOTNH

That's a wrap! We spent last month deinstalling the 'Titus - T. rex is King' exhibition at the #Nottingham Natural History Museum #NOTNH #WollatonHall.

This isn't Titus, it's a cast of the 'Wankel Rex' skull, kindly loaned to us from Queen Mary University of London thanks to Dave Hone. BTW, isn't Dave on Mastodon yet?

Two of a charming series of 11 photographs of prehistoric animal diorama scenes. Found in the Nottingham Natural History Museum in an envelope marked Camerascopes Limited and dated 1930. The artwork was new to me, does anyone know the artist? I can post pictures of the others if there's interest. #paleoart #NOTNH

#Introduction

#Curator of Natural Sciences at the #Nottingham Natural History Museum, #Wollaton Hall #NOTNH

#Palaeontologist focussing on Mesozoic marine reptiles, especially #plesiosaurs plesiosauria.com

Children's book #author: 'The Plesiosaur's Neck' and, coming soon, 'The Tyrannosaur's Feathers'

Founder of the #Dinosaur Toy Blog & Forum (dinotoyblog.com), and the #Animal Toy Blog & Forum (animaltoyforum.com)