here - Geological Curators Group

Collecting on this scale and for commercialgain is quite contrary to the objectives ofthe Russell Society and is clearly in breachof the 'Code for Geological Field Work', asendorsed by all major British geologicalsocieties. The destruction of sites in thismanner has severe implications not only forus, but also for future generations who willbe deprived of their scientific heritage.The fact that the sites concerned are in aNational Park is especially disturbing and islikely to result in legal action.Whereas the Council and Northern BranchCommittee of the Russell Society have noreason to suppose that any member of theSociety was involved in these ill-advisedactivities, they would like to identify theindividuals concerned and, if possible, takeappropriate action to prevent any repetitionof this kind of damage. Any help GCG memberare able to give in this matter would begreatly appreciated by the Council of theRussell Society (write to 29 BraunstoneAvenue, Leicester LE3 OJF).DISCOVER MAMMALS IN CENTRAL LONDONThe latest permanent exhibition at the BM(NII)- 'Discoverine Mammals' - was onened inOctober 1986by Lord Dainton, a formerChairman of the British Library. Dominatedby the famous 93 feet long blue whale,'Discovering Mammals' uses a combination oftraditional display techniques andinteractive electronic exhibits to explorethe relationship between a mammal and itsenvironment - with the emphasis onconservation. The exhibition completes thefirst half of the museum's re-display of itsmammals. It fills the old Whale Hall,complementing the re-display of 'Whales andtheir Relatives' (opened December 1984) whichnow forms Dart of the 'new' exhibition. Theremainder of the mammals (early mammals,carnivores and rodents) are due to appear inThe exhibition covers the artiodactyls (deer,pigs, hippos, sheep, cows, giraffes etc.),Proboscidea (the elephants), Hyracoidea (thehyraxes), perissodactyls (horses and zebras,rhinos, and tapirs), Cetacea (whales anddolphins; opened December 1984) and theirfossil relatives. Fossils are integratedamongst their closest modern relatives sothat the visitor can see how palaeontologistswork out what they were like in life and howthey might be related to extant animals.The scientific content of the exhibitionmakes a point of going beyond merelydisplaying specimens. There are largenumbers of specimens in the gallery, but theaim has been to tell visitors about thenatural historv of mammals in its broadestsense, expl&ing about life in naturalhabitats, distribution, conservation status,and adaptations to habitat.Although the exhibition is basically arrangedorder by order, there are also sections thatFig.3. From the new permanent exhibition atthe BMCNH), 'Discovering Mammals'.The giant modelled leg of extinctParaceratberium gives an idea of how bigthe whole animal would have been.Paraceratherium is the largest landmammal that has ever lived - 5m tall atthe shoulder. (Copyright BMNH).-"cover the hioloev of mammals from a differentstandpoint. Examples are 'large size'(Fig.3) on the ground floor, or 'sea mammals'on the balcony. A wide range of media hasbeen used in the exhibition. Large numbersof specimens are complemented by films, soundrecordings, interactive displays,photographs, graphics, and computer games.Conservation of wild populations has beentreated as a vital component of the displaysthroughout the gallery and the conservationstatus of each of the specimens has beengiven along with details of the particularproblems they face for their survival.The content of the exhibition was decidedafter a considerable amount of 'marketresearch' had been carried out with membersof the public to discover what theirbackground knowledge on mammals is, whattheir enthusiasms are and what misconceptionsthey have.The exhibits have, whenever possible, beensubjected to formative evaluation in thecourse of their development. Proposedexhibits were mocked UD and tried out withvolunteer visitors who helped identifyshortcomings before money was spent on finalproduction.