25 Aug 2014Mid West faces feature in portrait projectSmiling, reflective and proud, the faces of 84 Mid West residents have joined a Statewide project launched by the Western Australian Museum to celebrate diversity. 'WA Faces' is an online portrait project aimed at showcasing the people of Western Australia and their diverse and multicultural backgrounds.Read more News Jane Rosevear
25 Aug 2014WA Museum’s Molecular Systematics Unit revealedResearch Scientist and Manager of the Molecular Systematics Unit at the Western Australian Museum, Dr Gaynor Dolman, will present Behind the scenes in Western Australian Museum’s DNA Laboratory next Wednesday at the WA Museum – Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Part of the 2014 In the Wild West series, Dr Dolman’s lecture will explore the Molecular Systematics Unit, including how and why scientists use this facility, the role of DNA in deciding what is called a species and investigating the uses of DNA Barcoding.Read more News Jane Rosevear
8 Aug 2014Convict crimes captured at the WA Museum - AlbanyVisitors to the Western Australian Museum – Albany will experience a unique perspective on convict settlers, the crimes that landed them in Australia and links to their living descendants, when A convict in the family? opens this Friday, 8 August. This thought-provoking photographic exhibition by documentary photographer Mine Konakci visually explores and exposes the petty crimes that changed the course of many family histories.Read more News Jane Rosevear
8 Aug 2014Mid West history mysteries exploredRenowned WA geologist, historian, and former Director of the Geological Survey of Western Australia Dr Phil Playford will present two engaging lectures at the WA Museum – Geraldton this week, as part of the WA Museum’s 2014 In the Wild West lecture series.Read more News Jane Rosevear
25 Jul 2014WA Museum reveals hidden treasuresThis weekend a stunning exhibition of treasures once thought lost to the world opens at the Western Australian Museum – Perth. WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said the Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul exhibition contained more than 200 rare and beautiful objects dating back to the Bronze Age, from a place that was once at the crossroads of the world’s great civilisations.Read more News Jane Rosevear
25 Jul 2014Kimberley proves to be a frog hot-spotHop over to the Western Australian Maritime Museum next Wednesday night and dive into the fascinating frog world of the Kimberley, when Dr Paul Doughty presents Wet and Wild: Frogs of the Kimberley. Dr Doughty, Curator of Herpetology at the WA Museum, will delve into recent frog discoveries and explore a who’s who of frogs in this region, covering conspicuous tree frogs, rockhole frogs, burrowing frogs and more.Read more News Jane Rosevear
23 Jul 2014Dinosaur Discovery - online text panelsThis online feature includes text and images from exhibition panels used in Dinosaur Discovery. This exhibition was on show at the Western Australian Museum - Perth in 2014.Read more Online Exhibition Western Australian Museum
23 Jul 2014How Transparent Sea was createdThis is the story of a glass sculpture. This visual diary takes you through the making process and journey of Transparent Sea. New Zealand born, Perth glass artist Vaughn Bisschops has 20 years of experience working with glass. A small maquette of the whale shark idea hung in Vaughn’s studio for some years. In 2013 the concept was entered and accepted into Sculpture by the Sea. The sculpture was to be 3100mmx 2400mm weighing 680kg and self-supporting. The image was drawn up to scale followed by discussions with the engineer about how it could support itself with elegance and ease.Read more Photo Galleries Western Australian Museum
23 Jul 2014Dinosaur Discovery exhibition breaks Museum attendance recordsMore than 130,000 people have visited the Western Australian Museum’s Dinosaur Discovery: Lost Creatures of the Cretaceous exhibition in Perth, making it the most popular display ever held at the Museum, exceeding the previous record of over 113,000 set by A Day in Pompeii, held at the Museum in 2010.Read more News Jane Rosevear
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
15 Jul 2014The Age of the MammalsMammals began to thrive after the end of the Cretaceous when all dinosaurs, except toothless birds, became extinct. Mammals evolved before the Cretaceous and during this period most were very small. This is probably because they were hunted intensely once they reached a certain size, most likely by small theropod dinosaurs like Velociraptor. Mammals living in the Cretaceous belonged to the several extinct groups, monotreme (egg-laying) and marsupial (pouched) groups, and possibly the placental group.Read more Article Danny Murphy
15 Jul 2014End of an EraAn asteroid impact unleashed a series of cataclysmic events, ending the reign of dinosaurs. Some 66 million years ago, an asteroid, estimated to have been 10 kilometres across, smashed into what is now a coastal area of Mexico. The impact generated an enormous shock wave and tidal waves reached far inland. Glowing debris from the impact was catapulted back into space only to be pulled back by the Earth’s gravity. The returning debris generated an intense heat pulse as it rained down which may have been strong enough to cause global fire storms.Read more Article Danny Murphy
15 Jul 2014Birds Are Dinosaurs TooWhen evidence mounted that some dinosaurs had feathers and other features once thought to be unique to birds — birds were reclassified as dinosaurs. In the 1990s spectacular fossils of feathered dinosaurs were found in China. Fossils of extinct dinosaurs belonging to the group called maniraptors have features that are found in modern birds such as long forearms with modified wrist bones, wishbones and breastbones. Birds are now classified as maniraptoran dinosaurs. Some modern dinosaurs such as ostriches, have sharp claws on their fingers just like their ancestors.Read more Article Danny Murphy
15 Jul 2014Fight to the Death Velociraptor attacking a Protoceratops Image Peter SchoutenRead more Article Danny Murphy
15 Jul 2014Amargasaurus Amargasaurus Image Peter SchoutenRead more Article Danny Murphy
15 Jul 2014Cretaceous AmphibiansGiant frogs from Madagascar along with other large amphibians living in the Cretaceous may have eaten small dinosaurs. Predatory frogs Beelzebufo ampinga, nicknamed the ‘devil frog’, is known from fossils recently discovered in 72–66 million-year-old rocks from Madagascar. This frog is closely related to modern South American horned frogs (Ceratophrys) which are voracious and fearless ambush predators that feed on frogs, mice, lizards, snakes, birds and larger insects.Read more Article Danny Murphy
15 Jul 2014Burrowing DinosaursIn 2007, scientists found the first evidence of a burrowing dinosaur. They found the bones of an adult and two juveniles called Oryctodromeus cubicularis, a small ornithopod dinosaur. These bones were in the chamber of a filled burrow, preserved in 95-million-year-old rocks in Montana, USA. Several features of the adult skeleton are consistent with habitual burrowing.Read more Article Danny Murphy