Cole Museum of Zoology

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The skeleton of the circus elephant that dominates the main floor of the museum

The Cole Museum of Zoology forms part of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading and is on the university's Whiteknights Campus in the town of Reading, England.

The museum was established in the early 20th century by Francis J. Cole, Professor of Zoology from 1907 to 1939. A refurbishment of the museum was completed on 17th March 2004, enlarging the floor area to display a wider sample of the entire collection. It contains some 3,500 specimens of which about 400 are on display at any one time. Specimens are arranged in 27 cases in taxonomic sequence, thus enabling a complete tour of the diversity of the animal kingdom. Specimens include a male Indian circus elephant skeleton, a 5 metre Reticulated Python skeleton containing 400 vertebrae, a fossil of the largest spider to ever have lived, and a False Killer Whale skeleton. The current curator is Amanda Callaghan.