Explore exhibition highlights in the slideshow below. View some of the rare specimens and artefacts on display and the beautiful reconstruction of Darwin's study at his home in Down House, Kent. Take a peak at fantastic fossils, spectacular skeletons and skulls, and a precious, first edition of On the Origin of Species.
Charlie the green iguana. Charlie is one of two live specimens in the exhibition. At the start of Darwin's famous Beagle voyage around South America, he saw animals like this iguana as unique marvels. By the end, he was looking at species in a different way and investigating how they were related to each other.
Image © Ludvig Lohse, Natural History Museum
Darwin's Floreana mockingbirds. See two rare Galapagos mockingbirds that are perhaps the most important specimens Darwin ever collected. This is the first time the birds are on public display. They inspired Darwin to consider that species changed in time.
Image courtesy Natural History Museum, Tring
HMS Beagle model. View a model of the Beagle ship and see where history was made. Its mission was to explore and map the oceans and islands of South America and the South Pacific. In 1831, a 22-year-old Darwin boarded the Beagle as the captain's assistant. He was shocked to discover how small and cramped the ship was at just 90 feet long.
Image © Natural History Museum
Galapagos Islands. Experience the Galapagos Islands and marvel at strange mounted specimens and rare illustrations of animals and species that Darwin saw on his travels.
Be captivated, like Darwin was, by the abundant iguanas, giant tortoises and cacti in the Galapagos Islands. Explore the extraordinary range of birdlife he encountered from colourful blue-footed boobies to flightless cormorants. There are also other special displays dedicated to Darwin's Galapagos finches and mockingbirds.
Image © Denis Finnin, American Museum of Natural History
Horse evolution: Trace the evolution of species in this spectacular display showing stages in the evolutionary path to modern-day horses. You can see casts of Hyracotherium and Merychippus skeletons and an original Equus specimen, just one of many dramatic visual displays in the exhibition.
Image © Denis Finnin, American Museum of Natural History
Glyptodon (armadillo) skeleton. Marvel at this cast of a giant glyptodont that shows the kind of fossils Darwin unearthed in South America. Darwin was delighted by the distantly-related armadillos he saw, and partial to eating them for breakfast! He was intrigued by the striking similarity of these small, armoured mammals to some of the ancient fossils he found.
Image © Denis Finnin, American Museum of Natural History
Darwin's study in Down House, Kent: A centerpiece of the exhibition is a reconstruction of Darwin's study at his home, Down House. It was here that he studied pigeons, plants and other species, and refined his theory of evolution. And in 1859, Darwin completed the book that shook the world, On the Origin of Species.
Image © Denis Finnin, American Museum of Natural History
Etty's box. Watch a revealing video biography and uncover some intimate family belongings including a box filled with mementoes collected by Darwin's daughter, Etty. The box contains an envelope with hairs from Darwin's beard!
Image © Denis Finnin, American Museum of Natural History
Tree of Life. This first-known sketch by Darwin of an evolutionary tree describes the relationships among groups of organisms. Witness the workings of a brilliant mind up close.
Image © Syndics of Cambridge University Library
Skull wall. A cladogram (tree-like visual diagram) shows the evolutionary relationships among groups of primates. It is one of various wall displays that shows Darwin's process of natural selection at work.
Image © Denis Finnin, American Museum of Natural History
Antique display case. See how Darwin's contemporaries arranged specimens in this antique display case filled with mammal, reptile and bird skeletons. When Darwin began his studies, the general belief was that organisms were unchanged since their divine creation a few thousand years ago.
Image © Denis Finnin, American Museum of Natural History
On the Origin of Species. A rare first edition of Darwin's On the Origin of Species is showcased with other editions and translations. You can also see large reproductions of some of Darwin's published work and vital research.
Image courtesy of Natural History Museum library
