A species new to science! Katie Mortimer-Jones, 17 Medi 2013 A new species of marine bristleworm (polychaete) has just been described in a collaboration between Amgueddfa Cymru and the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Shanghai. The species is a type of shovelhead worm, a group that get their name from the flattened head region used to burrow within sand. The new species was discovered in the Jiangsu Province of the Yellow Sea. The new species is called Magelona parochilis Zhou & Mortimer, 2013 and was published this month in the scientific publication, The Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.For more information on the museum’s research into this fascinating group of worms, see the following Rhagor article here and this web page.Kate Mortimer
Kunstformen der Natur Jennifer Evans, 23 Awst 2013 Step into a wonderland of colour, a celebration of the natural world in all its artistic and symmetrical glory... Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) was an eminent German zoologist who specialized in invertebrate anatomy. He named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many now ubiquitous terms in biology. A popularizer of Charles Darwin, Haeckel embraced evolution not only as a scientific theory, but as a worldview. He outlined a new religion or philosophy called monism, which cast evolution as a cosmic force, a manifestation of the creative energy of nature. Haeckel’s chief interests lay in evolution and life development processes in general, including the development of nonrandom form, which culminated in the beautifully illustrated Kunstformen der Natur - Art Forms of Nature, a collection of 100 detailed, multi-colour illustrations (lithographic and autotype) of animals and sea creatures prints. Originally published in sets of ten between 1899 and 1904, and as a complete volume in 1904. The overriding themes of the Kunstformenplates are symmetry and organization, central aspects of Haeckel's monism. The subjects were selected to embody organization, from the scale patterns of boxfishes to the spirals of ammonites to the perfect symmetries of jellies and microorganisms, while images composing each plate are arranged for maximum visual impact. Kunstformen der Natur played a role in the development of early twentieth century art, architecture, and design, bridging the gap between science and art. In particular, many artists associated with the Art Nouveau movement were influenced by Haeckel's images, including René Binet, Karl Blossfeldt, Hans Christiansen, and Émile Gallé. Our copy of Kunstformen der Natur [photographed here] is a complete bound volume of all ten fascicules and sits in our folio section. It was donated to us in 1919 by the first Director of the National Museum of Wales [from 1909 to 1924], William Evans Hoyle. Hoyle’s trained as a medical anatomist and developed a life long interest in 'cephalopods'. Our BioSyB Department now holds Hoyle's cephalopod collection [over 400 of them] along with many other specimens and publications. Haeckel biographical information: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ernst_Haeckel Hoyle biographical information: http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/2756%20/ All photographs in this post taken by the author.
The Ghost Orchid Julian Carter, 19 Awst 2013 The Ghost Orchid Epipogium aphyllum is an extremely rare species found in a very small number of sites within the UK. The plant feeds by parasitising fungi, rather than through photosynthesis and as a result is largely colourless, hence its name. It was deemed extinct in 2005 but a new specimen was found in 2009 and was later collected after being eaten through by a slug. The National Museum Wales Herbarium has seven specimens of this orchid, five courtesy of marauding slugs.The specimen pictured was also cut down by a slug but this is even more rare, because of the way it has been preserved. This specimen was collected in 1982 and placed into a solution of formalin. The specimen arrived on my desk last week and I have since provided new labels, a new jar and it is now in a new preserving fluid of 10% DMDM Hydantoin and 0.5% glycerol increase its longevity and improve visual clarity. By preserving this specimen in fluid its 3 dimensional morphology is clearly demonstrated and the fluid gives it an even more ghostly appearance.Dr Victoria Purewal, Botanical Conservation Officer
Celebrating the tercentenary of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792) Julian Carter, 26 Gorffennaf 2013 In 2013 the tercentenary of the birth of the Third Earl of Bute is being celebrated across Britain with a series of events and new publications. Curators from Amgueddfa Cymru have contributed to a special publication published by Friends of the Luton Hoo Walled Garden, at one of Bute’s former residencies. Maureen Lazarus will also give a lecture at Luton Hoo in the autumn.Bute was a powerful figure in eighteenth century Britain, both as a politician and as a botanist. He was a friend and confidante of George III who encouraged him to become a politician. In May 1762 he became Prime Minister. However, Bute proved an unpopular leader. Bishop Warburton wrote at the time “Lord Bute is a very unfit man to be Prime Minister of England, first, he is a Scotchman; secondly, he is the King’s friend; and thirdly he is an honest man.”After a year of political turmoil and dissention, Bute resigned his post. He retired from public life to his house at Highcliffe in Hampshire with his vast botanical library. Here he rekindled his former enthusiasm for botany. Bute worked on several botanical publications and was strongly influenced by the renowned Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus. Bute’s best known publication is entitled Botanical Tables containing the different familys of British Plants distinguished by a few obvious parts of Fructification rang’d in a Synoptical method (1785). Its aim is to explain the principles of Linnaeus’s new and controversial taxonomic system. Angueddfa Cymru is fortunate to own a complete set of this rare and exquisite publication.John Miller (1715-1790) became the main artist of the Botanical tables, a huge task of over 600 illustrations detailing the sexual organs and their number to comply with the Linnaean system. The volumes cover the whole range of plant life from mosses, lichens and seaweeds to fungi and grasses, flowers and trees. Twelve copies of the Tables (each consisting of 9 volumes) were printed by Lord Bute at his own expense at a cost of £1,000. In his retirement, Bute was quite isolated. He was closer to European rather than British botanists, perhaps partly as a result of his travels on the continent but probably partly due to his unpopularity in Britain. Curiously, he was never elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London or of the Society of Antiquaries, something which his role as a patron alone ought to have virtually assured him. In spite of this rejection, botany was, no doubt, a satisfying way for him to spend his time in later life in order to avoid the melancholy he referred to in the introduction to Botanical tables.Bute was particularly keen to explain the taxonomic system to women since he felt that this “delightful part of nature” was peculiarly suited to the attention of the fair sex. Botany, under their protection, would soon become a fashionable amusement. True to this aim Bute presented seven out of the ten copies to women including Queen Charlotte and Catherine II, Empress of Russia.In 1994 Amgueddfa Cymru acquired a complete copy of the Botanical tables. The curators of the collection, as part of their background research, decided to trace all 12 copies. So far ten sets have been traced, seven of which can be identified with their original recipients. Full details of this project may be found in this paper; Lazarus, M.H. and Pardoe, H.S. (2009) Bute’s Botanical tables: dictated by Nature. Archives of natural history 36 (2): 277–298.Heather Pardoe and Maureen Lazarus
Newid a Pharhâd Sara Huws, 11 Gorffennaf 2013 Dwi newydd fod yn lloffa trwy'r dudalen blogie - dwi heb wneud ers sbel a mae'n wych gweld cymaint o flogwyr newydd, yn trafod pynciau newydd yma. Da iawn bawb!Mae fy nghyfraniad i wedi bod braidd yn dameidiog, a dwi'n gobeithio y gallwch faddau hynny, annwyl ddarllenwyr.Er ein bod ni wedi bod wrthi'n gwneud lot o waith caib a rhaw yma yn Sain Ffagan, mae'r rhan fwyaf ohono di bod y 'tu ôl i'r llen' - gwaith technegol, manwl, efo darnau mawr iawn o bapur, yn hytrach na gwrthrychau. 'Dyn ni wedi bod wrthi yn cynllunio, yn gwerthuso a chofnodi, ac yn fuan iawn y byddwn ni'n dechrau gweld newid go-iawn ar y safle yn ei sgîl. Gwaith is-adeiledd ydi'r rhan fwyaf o'r hyn yr ydym wedi ei gwblhau, yn ogystal ag astudio dichonoldeb defnyddio signal 3G a wifi ar ein safle coediog, eang. 'Dyn ni hefyd wedi bod yn gweithio gydag ymgynghorydd mewn hygyrchedd, i ddysgu sut y gallwn ni wneud yr amgueddfa'n le mwy croesawgar i amrywiaeth fwy eang o bobloedd. Ein bwriad ni yw i gadw naws arbennig yr amgueddfa, ond i wella'r cyfleusterau hefyd. 'Dyn ni'n trio bod mor agored a chyfranogol â phosib, felly 'dyn ni wedi bod yn gwrando ar farn gwahanol grwpiau mewn fforymau i bobl ifanc, athrawon a chrefftwyr. Mi fyddwn ni'n ail-wampio'r orielau hefyd, a dwi'n edrych ymlaen at gael gweld pa wrthrychau 'mae fy nghyd-weithwyr wedi eu dewis ar gyfer yr arddangosfeydd newydd.Yn y cyfamser, liciwn i gadw mewn cysylltiad â chi trwy'r blog - ond sut?A ddylwn i sgrifennu mwy am hanes yr adeiladau sydd yma'n barod? Neu ddangos yr rhai newydd wrth iddynt dyfu?Ddylwn i adrodd y straeon mawrion, neu hanes y rhyfeddode dyddiol? Beth am ein cynllunie i gynnal nosweithie preswyl a pherfformiadau? Mwy o Duduriaid? Llai o Duduriad?Dwi'n credu'n gryf y dylwn i ofyn, os nad ydw i'n gwybod. Felly dyma ofyn i chi: Beth hoffech chi ei weld ar y blog 'ma? Gadwch sylw os oes barn neu gais gennych chi - dwi'n edrych ymlaen at gael clywed beth sydd gennych i'w ddweud.
