Hey so I'm over on the other nicer bluer site. I've stopped posting here but I wanted to pop back to say this book, Nature's Memory: Behind the Scenes at the World's Natural History #Museums came out today. Come and find me over there - I'm posting stories from it. Same handle.

I'll miss it a lot, but it feels wrong to be contributing to this platform now. If you want #platypus vids, an insider’s guide to the curious world of natural history #museums, or #wombats, I'll be over on the happier, healthier site that rhymes with Brew Spy. Same handle.

If you're in Paris tomorrow, I'll be at @Le_Museum to talk about "Being honest about our collections’ origins – researching the colonial history of natural history #museums", one of the themes of my upcoming book #NaturesMemory. It'd be great to see you there (or online)! 👇

I still can't believe the Guardian listed #NaturesMemory as one of 2025's biggest #books. 🤩 In it, I explore how natural history #museums display nature in biased ways, the (sometimes uncomfortable) ways they came together, & how they can save the world: https://t.co/OTu7LSxaec

Museum OPEN as usual today - Sat 18 Jan. Specimens have been dusted, checked & are waiting to see you! Our Southern hairy-nosed wombat has an extra sparkly smile after having teeth cleaned by @JackDAshby, our Assistant Director. All in a day's work at the Museum😉@CamUnivMuseums

I've rarely seen more impressive teeth than #TasmanianDevils'. Those molars & premolars have sharp blades & conical spikes, for shearing flesh & crushing bone. They can eat a whole carcass. [Here we're checking its mouth for cancer] #fieldwork #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz

A close-up view of a #platypus having a scratch, before foraging in the shallows, walking on her knuckles to protect her huge webbed hands. #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #platypuses

Rather perfectly for #WombatWednesday, we've been cleaning the Diprotodon at @ZoologyMuseum - #wombats' rhino-sized extinct relatives. Suprisingly, although they weighed over two tonnes, their hands and feet aren't that much bigger than a person's. #wombat #MuseumLife

Although #wombat bodies are already *very* close to the ground, when the non-stop munching activity gets too much for them, #wombats like to sit on their bottoms to make eating even more relaxing. #WombatWednesday #fieldwork #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz

My WHAT body

If this story is true, it's bleak. The Conservatives did almost nothing to make this country better, but one thing they can be proud of is being pro #rewilding beavers. 🦫 It would be hard to accept Labour opposing this just because it's a Tory policy. https://t.co/eBhEGjCNQ6

Today in #MuseumLife: dusting the animal which evolved the largest antlers ever: male giant deer were 2 metres tall, but over 3.6 metres wide 🤯.

We're closed to spruce-up the @ZoologyMuseum galleries this week, so we get a close look at things on display, including our dioramas, which were built for teaching just after WW2 as the students couldn't do their rocky-shore #fieldwork due to unexploded bombs on the UK coast.

Whenever #quolls stop and look back at us as we release them, I always suspect they are thinking, "I will remember your face". #fieldwork #Tasmania #marsupials #MammalWatching #WildOz #quoll

A Little Gay Natural History by @JoshLukeDavis is a brilliant exploration of #LGBTQIA+ stories in nature, showing how biological sex is truly a spectrum, and how the institution of "science" has unscientifically tried to hide how common same-sex sexual behaviour is nature. 🌈🏳️‍🌈🐧

It's always a pleasure to be in @NHM_London, mainly to visit their perfectly overstuffed echidna, which is mounted with its belly almost flat to the ground and its feet pointing in the wrong direction (its back feet should point backwards). #Echidnas #taxidermy

I've always thought that #echidnas move as if they're being operated by someone who's learning to use a remote-controlled toy car: take a few steps, stop, change direction, stop, repeat. #fieldwork #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #echidna

#PlatypusMatters

An all-black baby #TasmanianDevil pops back out into the world. #fieldwork #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #TasmanianDevils