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  our wild singapore:
Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research
mms upload for 27 Aug 04 (Fri)

27/08/04 13:12 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #1: I'm saving one of my favourite places for last :-) The RMBR has its origins in the Raffles Museum which was founded in 1849 by Raffles himself. Some of us old enough will remember the bones of the whale that was suspended in the middle of the old museum. In the 70's, it was decided to remove the natural history elements from our National Museum, and these precious specimens moved from hand to hand until they finally found a home at the National University of Singapore. Btw, the whale skeleton is now at the National Museum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
27/08/04 13:18 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #2: The RMBR only found the manpower, space and money to start a public gallery in 2001. It has several sections. One of them showcases the wondrous biodiversity of our wild places. I met this doctoral student from Israel visiting the gallery.
27/08/04 13:19 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #3: The display includes specimens of our flora. Here are some of Singapore's favourite fruits! But these are wild species which are probably not as tasty as the ones we will kill for.
27/08/04 13:20 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #4: There are also lots of colourful photos and interesting details about our very own plants.

27/08/04 13:21 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #5: As well as colourful specimens of our little residents. Often overlooked or now rare because of development.

27/08/04 13:22 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #6: There is of course a section on my favourite creatures. These don't look as happy as the beautiful living specimens that are still found on our shores. Many of these specimens were taken just before our shores were reclaimed. It is sad when all our children will see of their shores is such specimens.
27/08/04 13:22 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #7: This beautiful large sponge was retrieved before the entire Pulau Seringat was buried for reclamation. Seringat was one of our richest reefs and lies just off Kusu Island. It was reclaimed to develop hotels and other tourist activities in the Southern Islands.
27/08/04 13:23 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #8: There are of course specimens of our native mammals too. This include the porcupine! The animals are preserved in this elongated posture to for more efficient storage. Space in precisely controlled temperature and humidity enviroments is at a premium.
27/08/04 13:24 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #9: There is also a display of several samples of the same species (here it's the Prevost's Squirrel) collected from several places and over a long period of time (over hundreds of years as the RMBR includes specimens collected by Raffles himself). Such sampling shows the variation over time and space.
27/08/04 13:25 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #10: Not all the specimens in the Gallery are dead! There are tanks of living specimens. Here are some of our colourful native freshwater fishes.
27/08/04 13:26 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #11: And another tank of our intertidal fishes. There is a perky little goby in the centre of the tank, a bit too small for camera phone.
27/08/04 13:27 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #12: There is also a section on the various tropical habitats including rainforest, mangroves, and here...the tropical coral reefs. There are explanations and specimens to give you a glimpse of the richness of these habitats.
27/08/04 13:28 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #13: One of my favourite sections is the one on crabs. Here is the enormous and fantastic Japanese spider crab with legs that can span 4m! And lots of other stories and specimens of these fascinating creatures.
27/08/04 13:29 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #14: Oops, sorry, THIS is my favourite section. It showcases some of the creatures we may not realise were and are still found in our wild
27/08/04 13:30 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #15: ...the wild boar, tapir and leopard. In the top left corner is the preserved specimen of the Banded Leaf Monkey. The subspecies found in Singapore is unique to Singapore. Just yesterday, Zeehan saw some of them in our Central Nature Reserve!
27/08/04 13:31 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #16: And WOW! There's a section on our Southern Shores! With my photos there! Indeed, my dearest hope (and that of the RMBR as well) is that our Southern Shores will be saved and that our children will not have to go to the museum to see what's left of it in dead and pickled specimens.
27/08/04 13:32 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #17: There is a section on conservation and the key issues related to it, in particular the wildlife trade. Education and raising public awareness is one of the RMBR's objectives.
27/08/04 13:33 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #18: RMBR is primarily a research museum. Specimens are treasured by researchers from all over the world. RMBR researchers do research in and survey areas not only Singapore but the Asia-Pacific region. They have links with scientists from 25 universities, museums and research institutes.
27/08/04 13:34 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #20: Education is an important element of the RMBR's work and the museum conducts workshops for teachers and students, public lectures and school talks and contribute to educational publications. RMBR staff are also active in guiding and guide training in our wild places.
27/08/04 13:35 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #21: RMBR staff undertake a lot of expeditions to better understand the natural habitats in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region. RMBR staff are not desk-bound folks working only with dusty specimens. They are great outdoors folks and excellent field specialists too. Some appear happier knee-deep in mud than anywhere else.
27/08/04 13:36 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #22: There is a "New Discoveries" section which features among other the coelacanth (pronounced see-la-kanth...don't ask me why). Discovered in an Indonesian fish market, this fish was earlier thought long extinct!!
27/08/04 15:10 Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research #23 (last): There are other sections but it's getting late. I surprised these shy science undergrads who were enjoying the display during lunch time. The RMBR conducts guided tours of the public gallery for school groups as well as the public. For more information see http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/

More...
More about the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity including how to get there, opening hours of the Public Gallery and public tours there. More about the the RMBR's volunteer programme: the Toddycats

 


these blog entries were first uploaded on MoBlog Singapore! Celebrate Singapore NDP 04
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