What's New

  • 22 Mar 2016

    WAM Head of Terrestrial Zoology elected Vice-President

    Dr Mark Harvey, Head of the Department of Terrestrial Zoology at the Western Australian Museum, has recently been elected Vice-President of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for a six year term.

    The ICZN is the international body that oversees the naming of all animal species worldwide.

    ICZN is mandated by the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) and members are elected by zoologists attending General Assemblies of the IUBS or other international congresses.

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    Article
    Western Australian Museum

  • One of the winning submissions from The West Australian photographer Nic Ellis

    14 Mar 2016

    Compelling WA press photography on display

    The work of WA’s most exciting news photographers has been captured in the 2016 WA Press Photographer of the Year exhibition, currently on display at the Western Australian Museum in Perth.

    WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said the Museum is delighted to host this year’s exhibition.

    “This exhibition gives eyewitness accounts of this State’s major news events, sporting moments and incredible personal stories, captured by Western Australian photographers over the past year,” Mr Coles said.

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    News
    Flora Perrella

  • Lieutenant Reg Saunders (left) and Lieutenant Tom Derrick VC DCM, congratulate each other face-to-face following their graduation from the Office Cadet Training Unit at Seymour, 25 November 1944.

    9 Mar 2016

    Stories about Indigenous Australians at war presented at the Western Australian Museum – Albany

    Indigenous Australians at war from the Boer War to the present opens at the Western Australian Museum – Albany this week.

    This touring exhibition from the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne presents Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ stories from all over Australia, including from the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

    WA Museum – Albany Regional Manager Rachael Wilsher-Saa said it is really important to acknowledge Aboriginal men and women who served their country during wars.

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    News
    Sharna Craig

  • Abrolhos Islands

    8 Mar 2016

    New search for 5th Old Dutch shipwreck

    The Western Australian Museum is embarking on a new search for a possible fifth Dutch East India Company (VOC) shipwreck, believed to have been lost at the Abrolhos Islands off the Mid West coast around 300 years ago.

    An aerial magnetometer survey of a section of the Pelsaert Group has begun, funded by long-time Museum supporter and Chairman of Austal Ltd, John Rothwell. The survey is looking for magnetic anomalies that would indicate the presence of another, as yet undiscovered, historic shipwreck.

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    News
    Flora Perrella

  • Members of the 4th Reinforcements, 58th Battalion waiting to board HMAT ORSOVA, Melbourne.

    2 Mar 2016

    New exhibition at the WA Maritime Museum explores role of Royal Australian Navy in First World War

    Touring exhibition War at Sea – the Navy in WWI opens at the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle on 12 March.

    Amongst the stories told is that of Australia’s first submarine AE1 which disappeared while patrolling the seas near present day New Guinea on 14 September 1914. No trace of the vessel or its 35 hands has been found to this day.

    WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said it is important to remember and recognise the contribution and commitment of Australian sailors and submariners in the First World War.

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    News
    Flora Perrella

  • A photoshoot for the taxidermy mammal collection for Western Australian Museum records. Is this tiger hungry, or just camera shy?

    29 Feb 2016

    Behind the Scenes: Mammal Gallery Decant

    The 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.  

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    Photo Galleries
    Western Australian Museum

  • A crèche in a large metropolitan hospital with babies laying in small cots, 1954.

    25 Feb 2016

    Exhibition reveals the truth about Australia’s past adoption practices

    A new exhibition, Without Consent: Australia’s past adoption practices, opens at the Western Australian Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder on Friday 26 February.

    It brings to light a previously hidden aspect of Australia’s past: forced adoptions, and has offered those affected an opportunity to share their experiences – some for the first time.

    WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder Regional Manager Zoe Scott said it is estimated at least 150,000 adoptions took place from the 1950s-1970s and a significant number of them were forced.

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    News
    Sharna Craig

  • Corporal James Davie Renner, 4th Divisional Signals Company, of Fremantle, Western Australia. Corporal Renner is appropriately dressed in a sheepskin vest during what was one of the coldest winters in decades on the Somme.

    22 Feb 2016

    Recent First World War discoveries at the WA Museum – Geraldton

    Visitors to the Western Australian Museum – Geraldton will have the opportunity to view the Australian War Memorial’s extraordinary travelling exhibition Remember me: the lost diggers of Vignacourt from 27 February 2016.

    WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said it was a privilege to display the unique First World War exhibition, an exquisite collection of black and white images printed from the original glass-plate negatives, as part of the Museum’s Centenary of Service commemorative calendar.

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    News
    Sharna Craig

  • Skull of newly discovered Cookeroo hortusensis.

    19 Feb 2016

    Two new ancient kangaroo species discovered

    Two new species of extinct kangaroos that could be the ancestors of all modern kangaroos and wallabies in Australia, have been discovered by a team of scientists from the Western Australian Museum, the University of Queensland, and the University of New South Wales.

    The new species were described from fossils – including skulls – collected from the Riversleigh World Heritage area in north-western Queensland last century.

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    News
    Sharna Craig

  • 11 Feb 2016

    Artists sought for public art at New Museum

    • $1.6 million allocated for public art at the new museum
    • Public art to reflect and interpret the stories of Western Australia
    • Artist teams to develop either a single work or multiple works

    Artist teams are being asked to register their interest in creating the public art for Western Australia’s new museum.

    Culture and the Arts Minister John Day said the public art would reflect and interpret the stories of WA.

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    News
    Western Australian Museum

  • Diamonds to Dinosaurs Gallery

    10 Feb 2016

    Diamonds to Dinosaurs Gallery Decant

    The 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.

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    Article
    Western Australian Museum

  • Newly discovered Xenoturbella hollandorum crawling over an American dime. Image courtesy Greg Rouse and Nerida Wilson.

    4 Feb 2016

    Four new deep-sea Xenoturbella species discovered

    Four new species of Xenoturbella have been discovered living in the deep waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean by a team of scientists from the Western Australian Museum, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium & Research Institute in the United States.

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    News
    Flora Perrella

  • FameLab

    1 Feb 2016

    FameLab

    Image copyright FameLab

    Attention early-career researchers!

    The British Council is looking for passionate scientists, engineers and mathematicians with a peer-reviewed discovery and a flair for public engagement to compete in its international science communication competition, FameLab.

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    Article
    Western Australian Museum

  • A taxidermied specimen (American Bison) on display behind a glass case in the Mammal Gallery

    25 Jan 2016

    The Mammal Gallery

    The 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.

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    Photo Galleries
    Western Australian Museum

  • Tramway Jetty Remains at Turtle Bay, Cape Inscription - Dirk Hartog Island

    25 Jan 2016

    Dirk Hartog

    This website commemorates the 400th anniversary of the first recorded European landing on the west Australian coast.

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    Online Exhibition
    Katherine Jeffries

  • 19 Jan 2016

    Live music and harbour sunsets at the WA Maritime Museum

    Fremantle will add another string to its creative bow when the WA Maritime Museum opens its doors to live music and sunset bars from Sunday 31 January.

    Western Australian Museum CEO Alec Coles said the Museum has partnered with RTRFM to bring Harbour Sundays to Fremantle for five consecutive weeks.

    “We will be hosting live music on the balcony of the Maritime Museum with a spectacular view across the river and out to the Indian Ocean.  There will be a licenced bar to help people fully enjoy the entertainment and the stunning sunsets!” Mr Coles said.

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    News
    Flora Perrella

  • Chuditch (Western Native Cat)

    18 Jan 2016

    Chuditch

    DPAW’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.

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    Article
    Western Australian Museum

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