We are experiencing unprecedented global environmental change.
From the origins of the solar system to the evolution of new species, our work and collections are helping us understand the response of ecosystems to this change.
Size matters: responding to environmental change
Predicting the impact of our rapidly changing climate on body size using well-preserved fossils.
Research on reef corals
Studying fossil corals to understand the biological consequences of past environmental changes.
Extraterrestrial H20 hunters
Exploring new analytical techniques to determine the origins and history of water on planet Earth.
All discovery, origins and evolution projects
Evolution
- African elephants
- Asian elephants
- Body size variation in Quaternary mammals
- Bryozoan endoparasite evolution
- Centipede systematics
- Chironomids as environmental indicators
- Ciliate taxonomy and diversity
- Comparative venomics research
- Conodont research
- Conulariid research
- Convergent evolution of anguilliform elongation
- Copepod colonisation and parasitism
- Cutmarks and carcass decay
- Dinosaur and plant co-evolution
- Dwarfing of fossil mammals on Mediterranean islands
- Echinoderm
- Evolution and development of vertebrate structures
- Evolution and taxonomy of Ice Age deer
- Evolution and taxonomy of Mesozoic bryozoans
- Evolution of the snake visual system
- Exploring the evolution of animals at deep-sea hot springs
- Extinction of large mammals in the Late Quaternary Ice Age
- Mammoth evolution as a model for species origins
- MART analysis
- Mesozoic forests of Britain
- Micropalaeontology research opportunities
- Morphological development and evolution of bony fishes
- Naked snakes of the North Eastern Region of India
- Ostracod research
- Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)
- Pathways to Ancient Britain (PAB)
- Phylogenetic comparative methods
- Reading the rocks
- Research using the Museum cetacean collections
- Symbionts
- The role of behaviour in evolution
- Trilobite research
Discovery
- Bio-strategies
- Brazilian mangrove forests
- Bryozoan skeletal mineralogy and ocean acidification
- Co-evolution of plants and soils: a comparative approach
- Emerging diseases
- Evolution of fern diversity
- Report your invasive crab sightings
- Research on reef corals and coral reefs
- UK seaweed biodiversity conservation
- Unlocking the vault: UK plant collections
Discovery, origins and evolution news
-
News
Ancient amphibian species named after Kermit the Frog
Kermitops gratus highlights the number of specimens waiting to be described in the world’s museums.
21 March 2024 -
Unfurl the secrets of ferns
With their soft unfurling fronds, ferns are fabulous. In fact, we love them so much, we’re filling our new Evolution Garden with them.
-
News
Earliest fossilised forest discovered in Somerset
This rare find gives scientists an insight into how trees shaped life on land 390 million years ago.
15 March 2024 -
News
Going through the menopause helps whales to become long-lived grandparents
A select group of toothed whales may have doubled their lifespan to become better grandparents.
13 March 2024