The Western Australian Museum’s long and fascinating history reflects and documents the State’s rich and diverse natural and cultural heritage.
Established in 1891 in the old Perth gaol, it was known as the Geological Museum and its collections were geological, ethnological and biological. In 1897 it officially became the Western Australian Museum and Art Gallery.
During 1959 the botanical collection was transferred to the new Herbarium and the Museum and the Art Gallery became separate institutions. The Museum focussed its collecting and research interests in the areas of natural sciences, anthropology, archaeology and the State’s history. Over the 1960s and 1970s it also began to work in the emerging areas of historic shipwrecks and Aboriginal site management.
Today the Western Australian Museum comprises six public sites and a collection and research centre and houses more than 4.5 million objects from rare fossils to the iconic racing yacht Australia II.
The Museum also manages 200 shipwreck sites of the 1500 known to be located off the WA coast and manages eight Aboriginal land reserves.
We found three previously unknown species of mulgaras hiding in museum collections – but all three have been driven to extinction since European colonisation of Australia.
After combing through museum collections, our team of researchers found a whopping 125 fluorescent mammal species – from polar bears and dolphins, to leopards, zebras and wombats.
Researchers have found an armoured fossil skink 1,000 times heavier than the ones in your garden. Its closest living relative is the shingleback lizard.
Wayne Lawler / Australian Wildlife Conservancy / AAP
Two newly discovered species of quokka-sized kangaroos, which lived 18 million years ago in the Queensland rainforest, show evolution in the act of giving kangaroos a taste for leaves.
Two museum exhibits, one in the Smithsonian and one in Australia, have opened public displays featuring the spectacular meg. But while both models are mega impressive, they’re not the same. Why?
Detail of the Connecticut Inscription, with image enhancement.
Centre for Rock Art Research and Management database
Etchings over much earlier Aboriginal engravings show foreign whalers made contact with Australia’s remote northwest long before colonial settlement of the area.
Ulysses butterflies (Papilio ulysses) in CSIRO’s Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra.
CSIRO
A new study provides insight into coral-dwelling microbial communities and how they react to pollution, overfishing, and climate change. What does it mean for the Great Barrier Reef?
Coral reefs under the business-as-usual-emission scenario, will quickly decalcify and dissolve.
prilfish
The world’s coral reefs will quickly dissolve if greenhouse gas emissions continue on current trends, a new simulation has found. Greenhouse gases cause the ocean to become warmer and more acidic, which…
A fire coral and friends, Millepora intricata in a lagoon on the Great Barrier Reef.
Mike Emslie and Daniela Ceccarelli
The fire coral (Millepora boschmai) is one of the rarest species of coral in the world. It is known only from a small number of locations in the Pacific Ocean, Panama and Indonesia, and it appears this…
The new findings show that long term geological processes influence global coral diversity patterns more than the environment.
AAP Image/Nick Thake
Earthquakes, volcanoes and movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates influence coral diversity patterns more than short-term environmental changes, a new study by Australian researchers has found. The study…
A high level of coral cover doesn’t always mean a high level of species diversity; and diversity is important.
Maria Beger
The health and productivity of coral reefs is rapidly declining. Hard corals are the principal builders of coral reef ecosystems; however they are struggling to survive due to pollution, catchment clearing…
Extreme weather events, such as Cyclone Yasi, are damaging the Great Barrier Reef.
AAP
The Great Barrier Reef has lost half its coral cover in the last 27 years, and it could halve again by 2022 say researchers from the Australian Institute of Marine Science. A study published today in the…
Coral bleaching is a serious issue, but we’re learning how reefs can best recover.
AFP/Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Coral reefs around the world are under pressure from multiple threats. A burgeoning gas industry – such as that near Gladstone – is one of the newest of these. Pollution, sedimentation, declining water…