The Broome Advertiser contacted us this week with a photo of an unusual insect taken near Cable Beach in the State's North West recently.
We asked our Terrestrial Invertebrates technical officer Brian Hanich if we should be worried....
In 1901 John Tunney collected an echidna specimen from the Kimberley region of Western Australia that would eventually make its way into the mammal collection of the Natural History Museum in London.
In November 2011, the Kimberley Diamond Company and private benefactors, donated to the Western Australian Museum, a representative collection of yellow and white diamonds, to a total weight of 38.06 carats, from their operations at Ellendale in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Generally, species are described by taxonomists based on a type specimen and the details published in a scientifically recognised publication. The published scientific name and the official description which defines the characteristics of the species are then permanently associated with this type specimen.
Type specimens form part of biological collections maintained by museums and universities where they can be accessed by other scientists.
In April 2012, we published our revised Western Australian Checklist for Vertebrate Fauna. There were a few questions about some of the details raised on Facebook and Twitter. This reply was written by Ornithology curator, Ron Johnstone in response to some of the birds listings in the checklist:
Naturalist, conservationist and Western Australian Museum Fellow Dr. Harry Butler has been nominated for the prestigious National Trust's 100 National Living Treasures list.
Dr. Harry Butler is a long time supporter and the name bearer of the WA Museum’s Harry Butler Lecture Series In The Wild West.
