22 Jan 2024New scientific paper disputes body shape of extinct megalodon sharkThe Western Australian Museum was part of an international team of 26 leading shark palaeontologists and neontologists who have challenged a recently published interpretation of the body shape of the megatooth shark Otodus megalodon.Read more News Flora Perrella
16 Jun 2023Western Australian Museum and University of New South Wales entomologists discover unclassified stink bugEntomologists from the Western Australian Museum and University of New South Wales have made the fascinating discovery of a stink bug species that is believed to be new to science, during a two-week Bush Blitz expedition near Kepa Kurl (Esperance) in Western Australia. The currently unclassified bug, measuring around the size of a pea, has two curved horns as well as bright yellow tusks and was found camouflaged on a local Hakea species of plant.Read more News Kasper Johansen
15 Jun 2023Super-sized Shingleback: WA Museum and Flinders University researchers discover Australia's gigantic extinct armoured lizard A fossil lizard discovered by researchers at Flinders University and a member of Western Australian Museum staff has been described as by far the largest and most bizarre skink that ever lived. Related to the Shinglebacks – commonly known as sleepy lizards or bobtails – found in gardens today, Tiliqua frangens or 'Frangens’, was covered in thick spiny armour and measured roughly the size of a human arm.Read more News Kasper Johansen
18 May 2023Saving the World… Museums, Sustainability and Well-beingInternational Museum Day Opinion Piece by Alec Coles, CEO WA Museum On May 18th we celebrate International Museums Day. Since 2020, the theme for this annual celebration has supported the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. This year’s theme Museums, Sustainability and Well-being, focuses on the following three goals:Read more News Robyn Ambrosius
9 May 2023Journey to the edges of the universe in Beyond the Milky Way a 360 degree virtual reality documentary at the Museum of GeraldtonTake a journey on one of the greatest international scientific endeavours in history through stunning 360° virtual reality when Beyond the Milky Way launches at the Museum of Geraldton on Saturday, 13 May.Read more News Kasper Johansen
30 May 2018Psychedelic Wonderland of Colour - The World of Minerals Cummins Range carbonatite under a petrographic microscope. Image copyright WA Museum Read more Article New Museum Project
10 Feb 2016Diamonds to Dinosaurs Gallery DecantThe Diamonds to Dinosaurs Gallery is currently being decanted, the process having starting in the first week of February 2016. The decant is being overseen by Alex Bevan, who is the Head of Department, Earth and Planetary Science, and Curator of Mineralogy and Meteorites at the Western Australian Museum.Read more Article Western Australian Museum
20 Apr 2015A short history of the mineralogy collectionA rich hunting ground for prospectors and collectors, Western Australia has been a prolific source of new minerals and fine mineral specimens. Surprisingly, for one of Australia’s premier mining states, the mineral collection of the Western Australian Museum has had a chequered past. Placed in storage in the mid-1960s and inaccessible to the public for around twenty years, the collection was badly neglected. The history of the collection is a salutary lesson in what can happen to a public asset lacking curatorial responsibility.Read more Article Western Australian Museum
25 Mar 2015Meteorite CollectionFor more than a century, Western Australia has been a rich hunting ground for prospectors and collectors, and has proved a prolific source of meteorite finds. This article presents an account of how the Western Australian Museum meteorite collection was born and continues to grow.Read more Article Western Australian Museum
4 Mar 2015The story of diamonds in Western AustraliaPink and yellow treasures from the deep Precious, brilliant and hard – diamonds have fascinated us since time immemorial. Over time scientific investigation has revealed their origins, even if some mysteries remain…Read more Article Western Australian Museum
16 Feb 2015A behind-the-scenes look at our mineral collectionThe Western Australian Museum mineral collections contain around 30,800 specimens of some 1,300 mineral species from more than 10,000 localities in Australia and the rest of the world. This photo gallery showcases some specimens from this large collection. Further Information To find out more on the Western Australian Museum mineral collection, visit the collection hightlights on the Museum website.Read more Photo Galleries Jessica Scholle
7 Aug 2013Palaeontological detective work unravels evolution of megatooth sharksNew discoveries of fossil material from the North West of Western Australia, France, USA and Sweden have revolutionised the early history of megatooth sharks. Skeletal remains and teeth between 95-80 million years old, described this week in the scientific journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, indicate the megatooth group - which ruled the oceans for 60 million years until the extinction of Otodus megalodon, the mother of all beasts, two million years ago - was far more diverse than previously thought.Read more News Niki Comparti
19 Sep 2012The Kimberley Diamond Company Ellendale diamond collectionIn 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. These images showcase some of these diamonds.Read more Photo Galleries Western Australian Museum
11 Feb 2011An introduction to fossils at the WA MuseumThis gallery features a small range of fossils from the WA Museum, including Lamniform Sharks, the famous Cundlego Formation from the early Permian period, and the Mcnamaraspis kaprios. Read more Photo Galleries Western Australian Museum
27 Oct 2010Desert Fireball Networking…In September 2010 scientists from around the world headed out to the Nullarbor in search of meteorites. This was no ordinary meteorite search, but part of the ongoing cooperative of the “Desert Fireball Network” that utilises a number of cameras spread across the Nullarbor to record meteorite fireballs as they fall to Earth. Read more Photo Galleries Western Australian Museum