About

They were collected by Percy Powell-Cotton during his expedition to the French Congo in 1927. These specimens are part of the world’s largest research collection of Lowland Gorilla specimens (250 total), which is held at the Powell-Cotton Museum.

Learning

The collection was used by Harold Jefferson Coolidge Jr. in 1929 to form the modern basis for the taxonomy (classification) of Gorilla species. A hugely significant scientific discovery based on this Kent based collection. Coolidge went on to be a founding director of the World Wildlife fund.

Curriculum Links: 

• KS1: Local History, Significant Individuals, Animals, including Humans
• KS2: Local History, Animals, including Humans, Living Things and their Habitats, Evolution and Inheritance
• KS3: Local History, Britain 1901- Present Day, Skeletal and Muscular System, Ecosystems, Inheritance, Human and Physical Geography
• KS4: Ecosystems, Inheritance