Odontoceti Collection

Physeter macrocephalus, Sperm whale tooth
Sperm whale tooth

Delphinus doris, plate 20
Illustration of the skull of Delphinus doris taken from The Lizards of Australia and New Zealand by John Edward Gray (1800-1875)

Rough-toothed dolphin skull with ink scrimshaw
Skull of a rough-toothed dolphin, a species that lives deep in tropical waters.The skull, believed to date back to 1850, has been decorated with ink by sailors in scrimshaw

Lagenorhynchus obscurus, dusky dolphin
Delphinus fitzRoyi. Plate from The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, Vol. 1 Part 2 Mammalia, 1838-1839, by Charles Darwin

The Soosoo of the Ganges, a river dolphin
Line drawing, plate 28 from the Naturalists Library volume XXV11 by Robert Hamilton, 1836

Prosqualodon davidi, skull cast
Cast of the cranium of Prosqualodon davidi from the early Miocene of Tasmania, Australia (original skull no longer exists)

Homeward Bound
Illustration (p.531) from Charles Darwins Journal of Researches, first illustrated edition 1890

Sketch of Dolphins by Edward Wilson
Plate one from Edward Wilson sTerra Nova sketch book showing three dolphins

Orcaella brevirostris, Irrawaddy dolphin
Photograph of the dorsal view of the skull of an Irrawaddy dolphin

Sousa teuszii, Atlantic Hump-backed Dolphin skull

Physeter macrocephalus, sperm whale
Detail of the mouth of a male sperm whale skeleton on display in the Mammal and Whale Gallery (number 24), at the Natural History Museum, London. Specimen found in Caithness, Scotland in 1865

Dolphin casting, c. 1924, The Natural History Museum
Percy Stammwitz, the skilled technician captured here in the Preparators Workshop making casts of dolphins for models in the proposed new Whale Hall

Tabula
Illustration from Handlung 1 Tabula, by Kirschner, 1786

Physeter catodon, sperm whale
A 52 ft male sperm whale stranded at Atwick, Humberside in Dec 1993. Teeth removed for sectioning determined the animals age at 35 yrs. Whale stranding programme -nhm.ac.uk/zoology/stranding/

Pursuit of Flying Fish by Dolphins & Birds
A line drawing from The Ocean by P. H. Gosse 1846 Page 183 illustrating a pursuit of flying fish by dolphins and birds

Kogia breviceps, pygmy sperm whale
Photograph of the skull of a pygmy sperm whale

Sperm whale skeleton, March 1901
This sperm whale skeleton stood in the Central Hall between 1882 and 1901. The whale was found near Thurso, Scotland, in 1863

Monodon monoceros, narwhal
The skull and a selecton of vertebrae specimens of the narwhal whale, held at the Natural History Museum, London

Scientist at work in the Darwin Centre
A stranded harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, is examined to establish its age, diet, the number of parasites it bears, and the likely cause of death

Carrying model beluga on pole, c. 1934
It took over a year from the closure of the old Whale Hall on 1 January 1934 for the skeletons and models, such as this beluga, to be ready for the public in the new Whale Hall

Working on whale carcass, 1930s
Since 1913, when the Crowns rights to whales and dolphins stranded or caught in English waters (Fishes Royal) were transferred to the Museum, staff have been monitoring cetacean strandings

Hyperoodon ampullatus, northern bottlenose whale
Skeleton of the northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus), also known as the Thames Whale, which became stranded in the River Thames. Seen here on display with mammal expert Richard Sabin

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