Tannis Davidson

@tannisdavidson

Head of Zoology and Science Collections at UCL based at the Grant Museum of Zoology @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social. Nature, science, art, music.

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Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· May 26

Still life

Image of early morning Canary Wharf with its reflection in the Thames river.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Apr 19

Oh oh here she comes

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Apr 17

Thames seal blobbing along 😍

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Apr 14

There’s a seal at Rotherhithe Pier!

Harbour seal on beach at Rotherhithe Pier with Canary Wharf in background.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Mar 26

Thrilled to have Yuri Suzuki and the team from Tropic Magazine visit @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social today discussing art, design and zoology for a forthcoming article!

Tropic magazine team and sound artist Yuri Suzuki pictured in UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology’s micrarium.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Mar 11

This evening we were thrilled to host @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social and hear her insights about extinction and how it is presented in natural history museums in her new book Ghosts Behind Glass. A must-read for all nature and museum lovers!

Cover of Dolly Jorgensen’s Ghost Behind Glass book.

Dolly Jorgensen presenting a talk in UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Mar 6

Love reading the visitor comments @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social ❤️ ‘Why the gibbon chill like that’? Why indeed but also, why not?

Visitor card with a drawing of the Grant Museum’s gibbon skeleton and the caption ‘why the gibbon chill like that?’ held in front of the specimen.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Feb 14

UCL200 bicentenary projection show was spectacular! Showcasing 200 years of @ucl.ac.uk innovation and impact. @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social portion featuring the micrarium, moles, @ucllifesciences.bsky.social biodiversity research and @ucl-c4ia.bsky.social collaborations and student projects.

UCL illuminated show with micrarium exhibit microscope slides across Wilkins building.

Wilkins building with illuminations of jarred specimens, bones and CT printed gharial skulls (Dr Laura Porro UCL Centre for Integrative Anatomy and team at UCL Bartlett B:Made studio)

UCL illuminated projections showing historic images of teaching classes in Grant Museum with leafy backdrop. Bioacoustics by Dr Jim Labisko UCL CBER.

Projections showing reconstructed Grant Museum dodo skeletons that were scanned and rearticulated by UCL anatomy student Byron Jarrett (UCL Centre for Integrative Anatomy).

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Jan 16

Here’s what it usually looks like

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Jan 16

It was buzzing in @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social today with #WaspLove on full display with a visit from Shona and Tam Reppe and @waspwoman.bsky.social herself! See World of Wasps exhibition before it closes on Jan 24.

Waspy dressed visitors flank UCL’s wasp woman Seirian Sumner in front of Peter Ayres’ wasp nest sculptures in the Grant Museum of Zoology.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Jan 11

London #fog

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Dec 17

Celebrating the amazing work of the @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social and @ucl.ac.uk #science museum teams alongside our spiritual patron Jeremy Bentham.

UCL zoology and science team enjoy a pre-Christmas beverage with portrait of Jeremy Bentham in background.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Dec 5

Today’s @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social we packed our very special gorilla skeleton who is away for specialist conservation and re-mounting. He will be back in the new year and will play a central role in forthcoming @ucl.ac.uk bicentenary celebrations! #ucl200

View from inside of mounted gorilla skeleton.

View looking down on gorilla skeleton on a table packed with acid free paper puffs and securely tied.

Skull of UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology’s male gorilla skeleton with acid free paper puffs around collar.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Nov 28

Confirmed (again) today at Birmingham #museum stores that every natural history collection (as least in the UK) has one (but likely two) overstuffed Bosc monitors.

Museum store shelf with 2 taxidermy Bosc monitors (with exposed stuffing revealed in mouth areas creating what could be considered mischievous ‘grins’) in centre of image flanked by crocodile taxidermies on both sides.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Nov 28

Extensive #taxidermy bird collection at Birmingham #museum stores including nestlings. Thank you @lukaslarge.bsky.social for hosting @natsca.bsky.social committee!

Storage rack with numerous tropical taxidermy bird specimens.

Array of ‘nestlings’ - taxidermy hatchling bird specimens.

Two taxidermy nestling herons mounted on wood base.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Nov 26

Fabulous talk today by @idrisadams.bsky.social in @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social all about why we should all love wasps - especially solitary wasps 🐝! #WaspLove #WorldOfWasps

Speaker Idris Adams, PhD student at UCL CBER Sumner Lab in front of slide presentation screen showing images of the work of an entomologist.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Nov 11

Saltwater crocodile mirror

Image of 91 year old (!) saltwater crocodile on rock underwater with mirrored reflection above. Dubai aquarium.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Oct 22

Join us for today’s lunchtime @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social Research in Focus talk with @knapprew.bsky.social from @ucl-c4ia.bsky.social discussing how museum specimens can be used to study brain evolution.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Oct 1

If you ever wondered how to photograph a gorilla skeleton without a studio …

Hannah Cornish and Alice Holloway holding up a black drape behind UCL Grant Museum’s male gorilla skeleton ‘Hugo’ for some quick photos. They are smiling but their arms are screaming.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Sep 26

Nirvana fans of the MTV Unplugged in New York album should check out the @rcmlondon.bsky.social exhibition about the recording. The guitar, the jumper and rare memorabilia are on display until November 18 in London.

Exhibition poster for Royal College of Music Museum’s temporary exhibition ‘Kurt Cobain Unplugged’ showing Kurt and his guitar.

The 1959 Martin D-18E guitar used by Kurt Cobain in the MTV Unplugged in New York album displayed in the exhibition.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Sep 25

So the answer to the question ‘how many people does it take to hang a python skeleton’ is five.

African rock python skeleton articulated around a branch and temporarily suspended between coat racks. Which is the best use of coat racks ever.

Emilia Kingham holding branch with python skeleton before mounting in newly refurbished case. Alice Holloway crunching the numbers in distance.

Alice Holloway, Cyrus Shroff and Hannah Cornish ease python skeleton into case for positioning.

She’s up! Python skeleton hanging in case at UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Sep 23

One of the benefits of decanting thousands of specimens for casework and redisplay is that you have the opportunity to deep dive into their histories and records. Just connected the archival dots of this pink fairy armadillo and it is an original @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social specimen from 1828!

Taxidermy pink fairy armadillo specimen on black base with decanted Grant Museum specimens on tables in the background.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Sep 23

Wondering why @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social is closed this week? Case refurbishments and new displays on the way!

UCL Grant Museum from above showing empty vertebrate cases.

Empty fish case looking through to museum.

False gharial skeleton on newly-painted base.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Jun 25

World of Wasps @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social is open! Over a year in the making by this incredible team, the exhibition features displays, virtual reality, projections and paper sculptures drawing upon @uclcber.bsky.social research @waspwoman.bsky.social @cintiaoi.bsky.social @idrisadams.bsky.social

A rewilded Grant Museum of Zoology with wildflowers and wasps. Still image from VR experience created by Datascape Realities.

World of Wasps exhibition dream team pictured in front of paper nest sculptures by Peter Ayres. Lourenco Viveiros, Sylvia Kluczewski, George Paris, Tannis Davidson, John Zhang, Hannah Cornish, Peter Ayres, Seirian Sumner, Cintia Oi.

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Jun 23

Another bridge shot (I know, I know) but look at tonight’s sky!

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Jun 15

Tower bridge bat swoop 😍🦇

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· Jun 5

Floating naos in the early morning mist at Mendes, Egypt. #fieldwork

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· May 10

A fabulous #natsca2025 conference this year with outstanding talks highlighting the impact of natural history collections and the people who care for them! @zoologicallady.bsky.social on the process of obtaining a (deceased) tiger from a zoo for future display - and how she skinned it! What a boss!

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· May 8

#Natsca2025 Excellent talk by @hannahcornish.bsky.social about ethical considerations of the display of human remains in natural history museums. @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social

Tannis Davidson@tannisdavidson· May 7

It has begun. @natsca.bsky.social conference 2025 with a little @uclgrantmuseum.bsky.social reunion. @jackdashby.bsky.social and @paoloviscardi.bsky.social