Current Temporary Exhibitions
To complement the permanent displays, the Sedgwick Museum curates temporary exhibitions. These include collaborations with researchers and artists and also reflect relevant news stories, events and anniversaries.
Dawn of the Wonder Chicken
April 2020
Explore the online exhibition
Asteriornis maastrichtensis, affectionately known as the Wonderchicken, is among the most exciting bird fossils ever found. It has one of the best-preserved fossil bird skulls in the world, and gives us important insights into the evolutionary origins of modern birds.
The Wonderchicken was discovered and named by Dr Daniel Field, Juan Benito, and Albert Chen from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge, along with their collaborators Dr John Jagt and Dr Daniel Ksepka.
The museum planned to open a temporary display to coincide with the publication of this work in the March 2020 issue of the journal Nature. This has been postponed and instead has become our first online exhibition.
Asteriornis maastrichtensis reconstruction
Image credit: Philip Krzeminski 2019
Deep Earth Explorers
Opened March 2020
A new interactive exhibition exploring the interior of the Earth. Co-created by a team of researchers from the University’s Department of Earth Sciences, Museum staff, and with input from the public, this new exhibition enables visitors to explore inside the deep Earth, and find out more about the people who use earthquakes to understand what happens deep below the Earth’s surface. Turn the pages of a 3D Earth model, make the Earth’s mantle move with playful swells of convection; and trigger seismic waves that ripple throughout the Earth. 
Bicentenary of The Cambridge Philsophical Society
April 2019
Exactly 200 years ago three Cambridge geologists –Adam Sedgwick, John Henslow and Daniel Clarke, founded a new society for the promotion of natural science in the University, looking to the Geological Society of London as a model.
Before long, the Cambridge Philosophical Society was a runaway success and the renaissance of Cambridge science was well underway.
Our new temporary exhibit explores this early history and the many contributions by geologists past and present.
Please check our new opening times and book your free tickets here
Back at the beginning of lock down the Getty museum challenged us to recreate famous works of art with objects from around the home (#GettyMuseumChallenge). As soon as I heard about it I knew I had to make the Duria Antiquior. Despite it’s size, you might have missed the ‘Duria’, high up on a wall in the Jurassic pond area of the museum.
