research Archives - Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum

POSTED ON August 14, 2020 BY Peixuan Cai

E-Book Launch: Voyagers, Explorers & Scientists

In January 1819, the ‘Indiana’ dropped anchor in Singapore, and Sir Stamford Raffles stepped ashore. Many Singaporeans have heard the story of Raffles’ founding, with William Farquhar, of a British settlement in Singapore. What is perhaps less known is that his expedition was also accompanied by two French naturalists, Pierre Médard Diard and Alfred Duvaucel.

POSTED ON July 27, 2020 BY Aw Jeanice

SJADES 2018: Treasures from the Deep

Of Giant Significance A new species of deep-sea giant isopod, which was named Bathynomus raksasa, has been described by researchers from NUS and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). It is the first time that the genus Bathynomus has been collected in Indonesian waters and is also one of the largest known to science. Marine

POSTED ON June 3, 2020 BY Peixuan Cai

E-Book Launch: 200 Points in Singapore’s Natural History

Exactly one year ago, LKCNHM launched the exhibition ‘200: a natural history’ to commemorate Singapore’s Bicentennial. The exhibition chronicles 200 natural history events from the last two centuries of modern Singapore, filling the walls of the temporary gallery with specimens, images and anecdotes of animals, plants, events, places and people that have played important roles

POSTED ON May 4, 2020 BY Peixuan Cai

The Anthony J. Whitten (1953–2017) Memorial Issue

“In the last 10 days I’ve been told that two beetles have been named after me, something I find very flattering. … One is a blind, long-legged cave-restricted beetle, and the other is a dung beetle. But before you scoff too loudly, remember that in Ancient Egypt the dung beetles or scarabs were objects of

POSTED ON April 16, 2020 BY Aw Jeanice

From Dungun to Leiden: For the love of fireflies

This post is written by Dr. Wan Faridah Akmal Jusoh, Research Fellow at LKCNHM, for the Vereniging Nederland-Maleisie Newsletter (article republished with permission). I was born and raised in Dungun, a beautiful coastal district of the north-eastern peninsular Malaysian state of Terengganu. Unlike what you are probably imagining, I did not grow up by

POSTED ON July 25, 2019 BY Clarisse Tan

Untangling the Knotted Identities of Commercially Important Swimming Crabs

Are you sure the seafood you are consuming is what it says on the label or the menu? In 2015, a survey of Atlantic blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) meat sold in supermarkets and restaurants in Maryland, USA, revealed that nearly 50% of the products tested were from totally different, non-Atlantic species. DNA barcoding matched a

POSTED ON June 19, 2019 BY Maosheng Foo

Public Talk by Undergraduate – Leshon Lee

Guess what’s been ruffling Polly’s feathers? While birds are one of the most understood group of animals in the world, underneath their feathery exteriors lie an incredibly diverse and hidden community of parasites called avian lice. Join NUS undergraduate Leshon Lee as he explores the strange lives of these much neglected and maligned insects, and

POSTED ON April 25, 2019 BY Clarisse Tan

Talk by Visiting Researcher – Emily Hartop

Come along on a journey following a researcher’s adventure chasing flies all over the globe! Visiting fly researcher Emily Hartop will be giving a talk on one of the most surprisingly diverse genus of flies, Megaselia. The talk will be held at our Learning Lab 2 on the 8th of May, 7-8pm. Light refreshments will

POSTED ON April 9, 2019 BY Clarisse Tan

Reconstructing a Sperm Whale’s Tale

Four years after a female sperm whale was found dead in Singapore waters, scientists are starting to put the pieces together to reconstruct the story of how she got to be there. Discovered off Jurong Island in July 2015, she was the first (and only) sperm whale sighting that has been recorded here till date.

POSTED ON February 28, 2019 BY Clarisse Tan

Visiting Scientist Feature: Dr. Alexander Ziegler

Last week, we welcomed a new visitor to the museum! Hailing from the University of Bonn in Germany, Dr. Alexander Ziegler studies sea urchins as well as other marine invertebrates. In particular, his research focuses on the internal anatomy of sea urchins. Dr. Ziegler at his workstation in one of our research labs. Traditionally, researchers