Museums & collections - Artensterben

We will probably never find out what the females of Schomburgk’s deer (Rucervus schomburgki) looked like. In historical drawings, travel reports, and museum collections, only remains of males are found—with their unique, many-branched antlers. Females likely carried none, and apparently collectors in the 19th century considered them too inconspicuous to

Scientists discovered a well-preserved thylacine head with tissue in a museum in Melbourne, Australia. This museum find could help revive the extinct thylacine using genetic methods. (© Westell, William Percival, 1874-1937, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

17. October 2024 Doreen Fräßdorf

Putrid Museum Find Reveals 99.9% of Thylacine Genome

Researchers recently found a long-overlooked bucket in the back of a Melbourne Museum cabinet, containing a well-preserved thylacine head stored in ethanol for over 110 years. Andrew Pask, head of the Tigrr Lab at the University of Melbourne, described the sight as “gruesome” in an interview with The Guardian, noting

A taxidermied huia pair (female right, male left) at the Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum. This specimen is not up for auction. (© Dr Mirko Junge, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

15. September 2024 Doreen Fräßdorf

Taxidermied Huia Pair Expected to Fetch Up to NZ$128,000 at London Auction

A rare taxidermied pair of huia birds could fetch up to NZ$128,000 at an auction in London. Organized by Roseberys London, the auction is scheduled for October 2024. The huia pair, consisting of a male and a female, dates back to the late 19th century and is considered extremely rare.

Tag: Museums & collections

The invisible half of biodiversity — How male-biased collections skew research and species conservation

Putrid Museum Find Reveals 99.9% of Thylacine Genome

Taxidermied Huia Pair Expected to Fetch Up to NZ$128,000 at London Auction