Exhibition: Extinction: Not the End of the World?

This highly topical exhibition takes us beyond dodos and dinosaurs to explore the crucial role extinction can play in the evolution of life.What's in the exhibition

Although over 99% of all species that roamed our planet are now extinct, a rich mix of animals and plants survive.

Explore some of these lost species on your exhibition journey, from the dinosaur and dodo to the Irish elk, bizarre insects and super-sized birds. Celebrate those that have survived past mass extinctions, such as the leatherback turtle, and those that have even returned from the dead.

Alongside dramatic photos and film footage, get close to 80 real Museum specimens, including the impressive skull of Chasmosaurus belli - one of the last dinosaurs, the 12-foot head and antlers of an extinct Irish elk, enormous elephant bird egg, and tiny live pupfish.

Throughout Extinction: Not the End of the World? we examine the latest scientific findings on what caused extinctions past and recent.

Focusing on some of these more recent losses, we assess the future for today's endangered species like the tiger and orangutan. We ask whether conservation can save them or could we be on the verge of causing the next mass extinction?

And could we humans soon become extinct?