The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge’s connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, W is for Whale: the journey of one iconic whale in particular, from a Sussex beach to pride of place in the Museum of Zoology. Read by Tom Almeroth-Williams. See more - medium.com/cambridge-animal-al…521d908c#.13ma555zk

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge’s connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, R is for Rabbit, as Dr Zoe Jaques talks about the bunny’s crucial place in the history of children’s fiction.

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, E is for Elephant: an animal that takes pride of place in the Parker Library's manuscripts, is frequently in conflict with people in Thailand and parts of Africa, and is the focus of some important conservation projects. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/e-is-for-elephant#sthash.ncwmx89w.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, F is for Fruit Fly and the myriad ways that they are helping with medical research. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/how-close-are-you-to-a-fruit-fly#sthash.ryjE4YMN.dpuf

he Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, V is for Venomous Snake: an animal that has long evoked fear and curiosity, but is revealing important clues for the development of treatments for some devastating conditions. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/v-is-for-venomous-snake#sthash.Caf5Oaop.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, J is for Jay – a surprisingly clever corvid with the ability to mimic human voices and much more. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/j-is-for-jay#sthash.KwrutsXo.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, C is for Chicken – a popular source of protein that carries a hidden hazard in the form of Campylobacter. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/c-is-for-chicken-and-campylobacter#sthash.93XANBte.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, N is for Naked Mole-Rats, which won't win any beauty contests, but can live for 30 years and may be able to help in the development of new therapies for chronic pain. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/n-is-for-naked-mole-rat#sthash.AyRG4EvV.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, H is for Horse – 170-year-old model teeth, the Parthenon friezes, and the surprising origins of racehorses' speed. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/h-is-for-horse#sthash.N0Nsuovs.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, A is for Albatross – in sketches retrieved from Antarctica, research into migratory patterns, and Coleridge’s famous ballad. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/a-is-for-albatross#sthash.WyOhluJv.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, I is for Iguanodon – a thousand ages underground, his skeleton had lain, but now his body’s big and round, and there’s life in him again! - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/i-is-for-iggy-the-iguanodon#sthash.iNREEWC4.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, O is for Owl, the researchers using their wing structure to inspire aeroacoustic developments, and the lavish drawings of them found in one of the world's first ornithologies. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/o-is-for-owl#sthash.gmNxesif.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, L is for Limpet and what they can tell us about Mesolithic middens, seasonal changes in the Atlantic Ocean, and the lives of people living on the remote Isle of Oronsay 6,000 years ago. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/l-is-for-limpet#sthash.2k9J4t7g.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, M is for Midge as we talk to eminent ecologist Dr Henry Disney about his lifelong interest in Diptera. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/m-is-for-midge#sthash.8SwvpCJd.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, T is for Tasmanian Devil and the researchers studying the transmissable cancer that threatens these marsupials with extinction. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/t-is-for-tasmanian-devil#sthash.SzEf7pB1.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, D is for Dragon. Watch out for fire-breathers among the treasures of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, in Anglo-Saxon proverbs, and in fantasy literature from medieval Scandinavia to the present day. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/d-is-for-dragon#sthash.7u32sMSP.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, S is for Sheep and their presence in the evocative, pastoral paintings by Samuel Palmer. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/s-is-for-sheep#sthash.xOr9NJBw.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, P is for Pet. Cultural geographer Dr Philip Howell and PhD student Makoto Takahashi examine both the lighter and darker sides of pet keeping as a national obsession. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/p-is-for-pet#sthash.aKbwfuGp.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge’s connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, Y is for Yak: an animal that is an integral part of high-altitude livelihoods throughout the Himalayas, Tibet and Central Asia. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/y-is-for-yak#sthash.BqkRIOjQ.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge’s connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, U is for Unicorn. Despite being notoriously difficult to catch, they feature on maiolica plates, in 15th century heraldry, and in early recipes for anti-poison. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/u-is-for-unicorn#sthash.bDzvb97v.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, K is for Kingfisher. Look out for them among the swamp cypresses at the Botanic Garden, where the secrets behind their cyan and blue feathers are being studied by an extraordinary collaboration of scientists. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/k-is-for-kingfisher#sthash.GmhocVTB.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, B is for Bear – found roaming Cambridgeshire 120,000 years ago, on 17th century murals in Madingley Hall, and keeping Lord Byron company at Trinity College. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/lord-byron-and-the-bears-beneath-cambridge#sthash.iVXzhbbY.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, Q is for Queen Bumblebee, one of the UK's 1,500 species of wild pollinators that play a vital role in the environment and food production. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/q-is-for-queen-bumblebee#sthash.vJdvEcww.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge’s connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, X is for Xenarthran. A must-have item for 15th-century collectors of 'curiosities' and a source of fascination for evolutionary biologist Dr Robert Asher. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/x-is-for-xenarthran#sthash.SrlRCOCX.dpuf

The Cambridge Animal Alphabet series celebrates Cambridge's connections with animals through literature, art, science and society. Here, G is for Greyhound – as heraldic symbols of the Tudors' right to rule, and as part of important research into treatments for osteosarcoma in dogs and humans. - See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/g-is-for-greyhound#sthash.EmJdphcd.dpuf