Jack gets his hands on a Thylacine

Some guys get all the great jobs!

We've mentioned the Grant Museum of Zoology's learning and access manager Jack Ashby on this blog before. Recently he had a rather amazing experience:

"Just last week I had to remove one of the world's only pickled adult thylacines from its jar for a researcher. Preserved specimens are reasonably inert - they smell only of alcohol (or whatever preservative they are in) and are normally only as fragile as the animal was alive.

Having in my hands the visceral weight of one of the most iconic stories of extinction, and a personal passion of mine, was pretty thrilling. Thylacines were a kind of Tasmanian marsupial that looked and behaved a lot like a stripy wolf (they are also called Tasmanian tigers). As the Tasmanian sheep farming industry grew in the second half of the 19th century, thylacines were blamed for predating sheep and a bounty was put on their heads. We now know that it was unlikely that they took many sheep, but as a result of the persecution under the bounty system none has been (officially) seen since 1936 (though many people believe they are still out there).

To many ecologically minded folk, the thylacine represents a practically deliberate extinction, resulting from the political pressure of a powerful industry with a destructive agenda. The thylacine was the largest remaining marsupial carnivore and its loss is genuinely tragic.

I have worked with many skeletons and skulls but holding the preserved carcass last week was almost chilling. It is some consolation that, with proper care specimens like this one could potentially last for centuries, so hopefully its story won't be forgotten."

The Spirit House - where are they now?

(The) Spirit House has 50,000 bottles containing half a million specimens. They are used for reference. Some are seventy years old. By renewing spirit every few years they will keep indefinitely. Card index system makes them quickly accessible. Museum assistant examines python for identification and cataloging. Specimens are vital to work of museum in providing ready means of comparison and identification. Photo circa 1950s, taken at the Australian Museum.

So where are all these Australian Museum herpetology specimens now? What became of them?

Wouldn't it be fantastic if the Australian Museum could put together a display similar to that of the Grant Museum of Zoology? Now that would be something...

London's Grant Museum re-opens its doors

Anyone travelling to the UK should go out of their way to visit the Grant Museum of Zoology, a time capsule of more than 62,000 specimens of insects and animals, some of them extinct.

Sadly it was closed when we were in London last, as its custodians moved premises and used the opportunity to search through the extensive collection.

This month the Grant re-opens its doors and resumes hosting its interesting program of talks and other events during the year.

The museum began life in the 1820s, founded by zoologist Robert Grant. The collection was (and still is) used for teaching students at University College London.

Highlights include:

- (Recently rediscovered) Dodo bones. A member of the pigeon family, the Dodo was a flightless bird that has been extinct for some 300 years. The 'new' bones found during the move are pictured above.

- a Quagga skeleton. A Quagga is a kind of zebra that could once be found in South Africa. Sadly, this unique creature was hunted to extinction in the 1870s.

- a Tasmanian Tiger skeleton. Once found throughout Australia and New Guinea, this animal died out in the 1930s. It was once considered a pest and hunted heavily. When it was noticed that its numbers were fast dwindling, a law was passed to protect them, but by then it was too late.

Need we say more? Get thee to the Grant!

A zoological adventure in Australia

At the start of the year the Grant Museum's Jack Ashby began blogging about his adventures Down Under, the result of a lengthy stint of fieldwork in 2010. His blog posts make for illuminating reading - there's nothing like seeing your own country through the eyes of an appreciative foreigner.

Over to Jack!

"From April 2010 I spent about five months undertaking several zoological field projects across Australia. I worked with government agencies, universities and NGOs on conservation and ecology studies ranging from Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease, the effect of fire, rain and introduced predators on desert ecology and how to poison cats. This series of blog posts is a delayed account  of my time in the field."

Week 1 - Poisoning Cats Pt I

Week 2 - Poisoning Cats Pt II

Week 3 - Catching Rats in the Land of the Undead

Week 4 - Sympathy for the Devil Pt I

Week 5 - Sympathy for the Devil Pt II

Week 6 & 7 - Sympathy for the Devil III