Last night I was a guest of Mastercard at the Natural History Museum for one of the Priceless London events that regularly take place at the museum, this one focusing on the theme of metamorphosis.
Starting at 7pm, the evening started with drinks in the Central Hall (where you’ll find the famous Diplodocus skeleton) and then we had a whistlestop tour of some of the museum’s collections, with five of the curators on hand to explain various aspects of the Natural History Museum’s work.
I joined the blue group, and our first stop was up on the balcony overlooking the dinosaurs for a short talk with the curator who looks after the mollusc specimens, and who has a particular interest in squids and octopi (?). We learned about some of the curious aspects of these creatures, for example the fact that some squid start life as male and as they grow transform into females, and also their ability to change their appearance – many can switch colour instantaneously and some can mimic other sea creatures to enable them to evade predators or indeed to get closer to their prey. One is able to disguise itself as a clownfish, copying its colouration and shape, while another can ‘plant’ itself and take on the appearance of a sea anemone!
Our next visit took us through the Mineral Gallery (the only space in the Natural History Museum that is virtually unchanged from its opening in 1881, and also the only gallery with natural light) to see the head mineralogist, who was on hand to show us around ‘The Vault’, where the museum’s precious stones are kept. We handled diamonds and a huge gold nugget, and discovered that these particular precious stones are not at all rare – in fact there are billions upon billions of them on the planet (under the huge pressures and temperatures present between around 20 to 35 miles under the surface, carbon is only present in the crystalline diamond form). The reason that diamonds are so valuable is because they’re difficult to get to – all those that are mined today have been pushed up through the planet’s crust due to volcanic action.
Before taking a break for some refreshment and food we met with one of the two fish curators, who took us through a quick history of their evolution, from the relatively simple eel through to the strange sunfish, whose eyes migrate round to one side of its body as it grows. We also learned something rather alarming about clown fish – if the large female of a shoal is killed, the dominant male changes sex with the next male down on the pecking order becoming the alpha. That puts an entirely new and rather disconcerting spin on the Disney classic, Finding Nemo…
After a few more glasses of wine it was time to join with one of the Natural History Museum’s paleontologists, who led us through the last million years of the UK. I hadn’t appreciated that our islands have had several land bridges to mainland Europe which have appeared and disappeared depending on climatic conditions. The last one, which occurred after the ice age, allowed the wildlife that we are familiar with today to cross from Northern Europe. Before the ice caps descended to cover the UK, hippos and rhinocerous were not an uncommon sight – in fact the rhinocerous jaw that we were shown last night was excavated in London! We also had a quick look at the skulls of the various hominids that have been found in Europe. I didn’t actually learn this fact yesterday, but did you know that Europeans are not 100% homo sapien? When someone tells you that the neanderthals are extinct you can call them a liar – due to the interbreeding that took place as humans entered Europe, there’s a good chance that you owe anywhere between 1 and 4% of your genes to them. Think on that next time you see someone with a particularly heavy brow or deep set eyes on the bus!
Our final and most colourful talk took place with one of the lepidopterists, who is an expert on moths. We learned that there are about ten times more species of moths than butterflies, and I was surprised to discover that the mulberry silkworm (the larva of the silkmoth), which has been used by the Chinese to produce thread for at least 5000 years, is an entirely domesticated species – they are only ever bred in captivity and are no longer naturally occurring. It’s also quite alarming to find out how they harvest them – mature pupae are dropped into boiling water to kill them, whereupon the mile or so of silk thread wrapped around each pupa can then be spun out and processed.
The evening ended with a few more drinks and a surprise – a troupe of dancers appeared to give the audience a visually stunning and energetic performance of modern dance!
Mastercard’s Priceless London programme is open to all Mastercard holders – you can take advantage of various discounts and special offers, access priority bookings for big events and also participate in exclusive one-off happenings. Upcoming opportunities include a chance to win a family pass for the SEALIFE London Aquarium and priority booking for the Brit Awards. You can learn more about the programme online here, and follow their Twitter account and the #PricelessLondon hashtag for updates.
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