Aug 31, 2021 | Iconic Specimens, Latest
Dr John Midgley, KwaZulu-Natal Museum We know very little about most insects, probably because there are so many species out there. Scientists are still busy discovering new species of insect, and some estimate that over 90% of the animals on Earth are insects!...
Jun 24, 2021 | Events, Forums, Iconic Specimens, Latest
Louanne Kirton, Photographic Competition Second Runner-up: The ugliest specimen On 22 December 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the Curator of the East London Museum, received a call from the Captain of the Nerine fishing trawler, Hendrik Goosen. He had just returned...
May 24, 2021 | Events, Forums, Iconic Specimens, Latest
David Allan, Photographic Competition Winner: The most iconic specimen I describe the Dodo Skeleton as a first-hand view back into a lost past. It is one of the two most complete skeletons of the Dodo anywhere in the world. Did you know? Dodos were a type of pigeon....
Mar 12, 2021 | Iconic Specimens, Latest
Montaspis gilvomuculata. Photo by Matabaro Ziganira, KwaZulu-Natal Museum This rare cream-spotted snake is endemic to the Drakensberg Mountains in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Only four specimens have ever been found in this region between 1967 and 1991. Between...
Mar 4, 2021 | Iconic Specimens, Latest, Value of collections articles
Interesting specimen — Acanthopsis tuba The Holotype of Acanthopsis tuba was collected by H.W.R. Marloth (1855–1931) in August 1925 at Anenous. Anenous (originally known as P/ani P/nous in Nama) was named after a spring in the corner of the kloof and is located 14 km...
Oct 17, 2017 | Iconic Specimens
Eggs with embryos belonging to the southern African dinosaur Massospondylus were discovered in 1978 from a road cut-away in the Golden Gate National Park in the Free State. These dinosaurs lived in the early Jurassic, between 200 and 183 million years ago. A clutch of...
