Like most museums the NHM’s exhibitions are primarily based on its collections, also like other museums the amount actually on display is only a fraction of its collection.
This collection now consists of 68 million specimens
    28 million insects
    27 million animals
    9 million fossils
    6 million algae, ferns, mosses, lichens and seed plants
    500,000+ rocks and minerals
    3,200 meteorites
    the fish collection alone covers 4,500 meters of shelving


“In the view of most curators...
collections are at the heart of a museum” 2

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2 p125 Thinking about things, Susan M Pearce,
Interpreting objects and collections, Susan M.Pearce. Routledge [1994]