Animal ABC

Lynn Museum was founded in 1844. At this time there was a great interest in the natural world. The museum curators collected a wide range of objects from Norfolk and overseas.  Over the years the museum has continued to collect and we now have a diverse collection of over 55,000 objects. Today we only collect material from the King’s Lynn area to help us tell local stories.

Ammonites are related to modern day octopus and squid. They swam in the sea at the same time as dinosaurs walked the Earth.

A butterfly’s lifecycle is made up of four parts: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and imago (adult). This changing process from caterpillar to adult is called metamorphosis.

In 1963, Félicette the cat was launched into space by the French Government. She was later recovered safely, after her capsule parachuted back to Earth.

The Talbot Hound was a breed of hunting dog. It went extinct in the late 18th century. 

Asian Elephants are more closely related to the extinct Mammoths than they are to African Elephants.

The Edible Frog first appeared during the last Ice Age.

A Giraffe’s tongue can measure up to 50cm, that’s nearly five times longer than the human tongue.

The world’s tallest living horse is a Belgian Heavy Horse called ‘Big Jake’, measuring 210cm at the shoulder. The world’s smallest living horse is a Dwarf Miniature Horse called ‘Thumbelina’, measuring 43cm at the shoulder.

Ichthyosaurs are often confused with dinosaurs, because they lived in the sea at the same time. They are actually more closely related to modern-day reptiles such as lizards.

Many of the oak trees in the UK were accidentally grown by jays. Jays bury acorns to eat in the winter. Sometimes they don’t return for them and an oak tree grows.

Kangaroos belong to the animal family Macropodidae, which literally means ‘big foot family’.

Lions used to live in Norfolk. During the warm periods of the last Ice Age, lions roamed the plains of what’s now East Anglia, along with hippos, bison, giant deer and wild boar.

By flattening out their bodies, House Mice are able to squeeze through gaps as small as 6mm. That’s roughly the size of a pencil.

Narwhals were formerly called ‘Sea Unicorns’. We now know the tusks are used to help sense the water around them, but sailors previously took them home as unicorn horns, with the power to neutralise poisons.

The  South African Ostrich, was officially described by former Liberal Party MP for King’s Lynn, John Henry Gurney Sr. (1819–1890). The name ‘Gurney’ is usually added after the full scientific name: ‘Struthio camelus australis Gurney, 1868’.             

In 2010 peregrines in King’s Lynn were the first nesting pair in Norfolk for 150 years. 

Quail are able to fly short distances, but they spend most of their time on the ground.

Rabbits produce two kinds of poo. Hard round pellets and a soft poo which they often eat to obtain more nutrients.

In 1996 Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.

No two tigers have the same pattern of stripes. 

Sea Urchins have been around for 450 million years. They are related to starfish. Sea urchins have five distinct bands on their surface; sometimes called petals. 

John Henry Gurney Sr. (1819–1890), a former King’s Lynn MP, kept a Lappetfaced Vulture as a pet. She was named ‘Mrs. Stockings’ because of her white feathered legs.

A male walrus is called a bull. A female walrus is called a cow. A baby walrus is called a calf.

Taxidermy is a way of preserving an animal’s body by stuffing it for the purpose of display. Taxidermists used different wiring systems on the inside of the animal. X-rays can be used to find out who mounted a particular specimen.

The Yellowhammer’s song is often described as sounding like the bird is saying ‘a little bit of bread with no cheeeeese’.

Zebras can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour when galloping across the African plains.