14 Jun 2016Western Swamp TortoiseDPAW’s Threatened Fauna: An Overview – Western Swamp Tortoise Pseudemydura umbrina Western Australia’s Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPAW) keeps an extensive list of threatened fauna in line with the Wildlife Conservation Act. On this list, 26 reptiles are listed as “fauna that is rare or likely to become extinct.” This includes the Western Swamp Tortoise, otherwise known as the Short-necked Tortoise, or Western Swamp Turtle.Read more Article Western Australian Museum
12 May 2016Wedge-tailed EagleScientific Name Aquila audax Other names Eaglehawk. Waalitj (Noongar name). Description A huge, very dark eagle with long wedge-shaped tail, long fingered wings and completely feathered legs. Australia’s largest bird of prey and one of the largest eagles in the world.Read more Photo Galleries Western Australian Museum
29 Feb 2016Behind the Scenes: Mammal Gallery DecantThe Mammal Gallery decant from the Western Australian Museum - Perth to the Collections and Research Centre (CRC) at Welshpool has been a huge undertaking for all involved. It allowed Museum staff the opportunity to update records and complete conservation work on the precious specimens. Soula Veyradier, Manager, Western Australian Museum - Perth, said that the decant was a unique opportunity to work with the animals outside their display cases. Read more Photo Galleries Western Australian Museum
25 Jan 2016The Mammal GalleryThe Western Australian Museum are getting ready to build a New Museum for Western Australia, and an initial step in this process is to decant the thousands of specimens and objects from the WA Museum – Perth into safe storage at the Collections and Research Centre (CRC) in Welshpool. This article explores the history and decant of the Mammal Gallery, with insights from Western Australian Museum Mammology Dr Kenny Travouillon.Read more Photo Galleries Western Australian Museum
18 Jan 2016ChuditchDPAW’s Threatened Fauna: An Overview – Chuditch / Western Quoll Dasyurus geoffroii Western Australia’s Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPAW) keeps an extensive list of threatened fauna in line with the Wildlife Conservation Act. On this list, 44 mammals are listed as “fauna that is rare or likely to become extinct.” This includes the Chuditch (Noongar name), otherwise known as the Western Quoll, or Western Native Cat.Read more Article Western Australian Museum
11 Jan 2016The Bird GalleryThe Western Australian Museum are getting ready to build a New Museum for Western Australia, and an initial step in this process is to decant the thousands of specimens and objects from the WA Museum – Perth into safe storage at the Collections and Research Centre (CRC) in Welshpool. This article explores the history of the Bird Gallery, with insights from Western Australian Museum Ornithology Curator, Ron Johnstone.Read more Article Western Australian Museum
18 Sep 2015Last Migration: The Story of the Red Knot On 4 March 2015, Grant Lodge found a recently dead shorebird on a beach near Broome. The bird had a number of coloured leg flags and bands, which identified the bird as being part of a scientific data collection system. Mr Lodge preserved the specimen and contacted Ron Johnstone, the Curator of Ornithology at the Western Australia Museum. On its arrival at the museum, the specimen was prepared into a research study skin (registered number A39016) and was identified as a Red Knot (Calidris canutus piersmai).Read more Article Tara Sidebottom
11 May 2015Explore our Egg CollectionThe Western Australian Museum is home to a large egg collection that has been put together over many years by the Museum's Curator of Ornithology, Ron Johnstone, and others. The egg plates in this gallery are from the Museum's collection and were photographed by Douglas Elford for the Handbook of Western Australian Birds - Volume IRead more Photo Galleries Western Australian Museum
5 May 2015Wildlife of the PilbaraThe Western Australian Museum Terrestrial Zoology team recently ran a field trip to Karijini and Millstream-Chichester national parks in the Pilbara, to collect tissue samples for the Molecular Systematics Unit’s Conservation Genetics of the Pilbara Fauna Project, funded by the Net Conservation Benefits Fund. Survey teams used a variety of techniques to sample for reptiles, mammals, frogs, trapdoor spiders, pseudoscorpions, land snails, insects and other invertebrate groups. Key habitats examined were gorges, mulga woodland and spinifex hummock-grassland on heavy clay soils.Read more Photo Galleries Lintette Umbrello
1 Apr 2015A Grey Magpie? Here is a magpie that does not see life in black and white! Let me introduce to you an inhabitant of the Museum’s garden that is quite unusual: a grey magpie…Read more Article Western Australian Museum
23 Mar 2015A behind-the-scenes look at our stick insect collectionThe Phasmatodea are an order of insects commonly known as stick insects or leaf insects which occur in warmer zones over the world. They are among the best camouflaged creatures in the animal kingdom, mimicking perfectly the leaves, branches and twigs of their surroundings. Their taxonomic classification is quite arduous due to a deficit of reference books in this field of zoology and scientific disputes remain as to their classification.Read more Photo Galleries Jessica Scholle
18 Mar 2015Collecting in the Dark ZoneBeneath our feet lies a hotspot of subterranean biodiversity. The Terrestrial Zoology Department perform research on the ecology, biology and taxonomy of Australian subterranean organisms. Over the last few decades, a substantial number of new species discovered by the research team has contributed to increase our knowledge of the State’s biodiversity. However, this underground fauna lives in hidden habitats, often inaccessible for sampling. Which methods do scientists employ to collect this fauna in the field?Read more Article Western Australian Museum
16 Mar 2015Remarkable travels of migratory birdsSome migratory birds are able to travel thousands kilometres. In this audio our curator of Birds, Ron Johnstone, explains how scientists were able to study birds that migrate from Indonesia to Australia, and often further. Read more Article Western Australian Museum
2 Feb 2015A behind-the-scenes look at our butterfly collectionButterflies are a group of insects which belong to the order Lepidoptera and include about 17,950 species. Of the 400 butterfly species distributed in Australia, approximately half are endemic, found nowhere else in the world.Read more Photo Galleries Jessica Scholle
17 Jul 2014Bone Hunters at the MuseumThe Terrestrial Zoology department recently exhumed specimens that had been buried for skeletonising with the help of a team of Museum staff members and volunteers. These specimens were buried whole or partially flensed (flesh stripped from the bones) to allow naturaly occuring invertebrates in the soil eat the remaining soft tissues from the bones. Twenty-five specimens were exhumed, including several marine mammals, sea turtles and the jaws of an elephant. The bones of each specimen were carefully cleaned by brushing the soil off and then scrubbing in soapy water.Read more Photo Galleries Lintette Umbrello
1 Apr 2014A behind-the-scenes look at our butterfly collectionThis small photo gallery gives a behind-the-scenes look into the butterfly collection. It will be enhanced in the near future with a Smartphone and tablet app that the Western Australian Museum is currently developing. This Smartphone and tablet app will aim to reveal what happens behind-the-scenes at the Museum, explaining the research performed and showcasing our collections. The Western Australian Museum is always aiming to offer products that our audiences want, and invites you to give your opinion about this app project by answering a short survey:Read more Photo Galleries Jessica Scholle
18 Nov 2013Barrow Island’s brand new bugsTwenty-five brand new bugs from Barrow Island and neighbouring areas of WA's northwest have been described in the latest Records of the Western Australian Museum. The Terrestrial Invertebrates Fauna of Barrow Island volume describes 25 new species including a snail, two spiders, a silverfish and 21 flies, and one new genus of wolf spider. WA Museum Head of Terrestrial Zoology, Mark Harvey, said the new volume, sponsored by Chevron Australia, contains 22 scientific papers written by a total of 43 authors using data from more than 20 years of collecting.Read more News Niki Comparti
9 Oct 2013Geraldton's new gecko revealed!Scientists from the Western Australian Museum have discovered a rare new species of gecko in the State’s Mid-West and will reveal it to the public for the first time at the WA Museum – Geraldton on Tuesday, October 22. WA Museum reptile curator Dr Paul Doughty said the Cloudy Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus nebulosus) is a new species of gecko lizard endemic to the Geraldton region. “The species only occurs from Mt Lesueur in the south, in the hills to the east of Geraldton and up to the Hutt River,” Dr Doughty said.Read more News Niki Comparti
25 Sep 2013Wildlife of the Houtman AbrolhosIn February 2012 the WA Museum Terrestrial Zoology department conducted fieldwork on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, off the coast of Geraldton, WA. This was the last in a series of surveys beginning in 1977 to catalogue and study the biodiversity of vertebrate fauna on the islands. On this final fieldtrip important genetic samples were obtained to further investigate the phylogeographic relationships between vertebrate populations on different islands.Read more Photo Galleries Lintette Umbrello
5 Sep 2013Specimen preparation - Bird taxidermyAn Australian Kestrel skin is prepared for the Ornithology research collection. WA Museum preparator, Mr. Gomez, performs taxidermy on the bird specimen by removing the viscera, leg and wing muscles, eyes and brain and replacing with an artificial body of cotton wool. During the process important information is recorded such as the collection date and location, age, sex and weight of the bird.Read more Photo Galleries Lintette Umbrello