The edges of this tree-hollow and the branch next to it have been worn smooth by what must be generations of #possums coming and going. The tree is a pencil pine - one of #Tasmania's endemic treasures. These slow-growing mountain giants can live for 1000 years. That's a lot of possums. 🌲 #trees

Some impressive #UrbanWildlife in a pond in the middle of #Sydney - a busy bunch of native short-finned eels. They'll have migrated here from the ocean - potentially from a spot a few thousand miles away. #fish #WildOz

A jam-packed 48hrs in #Sydney: gave a seminar at @unsw.edu.au, a public talk at @sydney.edu.au, explored behind the scenes at Chau Chak Wing Museum, met a large, urban marine mammal, saw a man about a #platypus, caught up with some buddies and had a couple of dips in the ocean. Now on to #Tasmania!

A drawer of #thylacines at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. Spot the bullet hole.

Is it a bookmark or is it a tenrec?

Absolutely brilliant lecture this afternoon at the Chau Chak Wing Museum by @jackdashby.bsky.social on his new book on the role of natural history museums. I look forward to reading ‘Nature’s Memory’!

This humble flea is the only #Darwin specimen in the whole of Australia. It comes from an #armadillo that young Charles collected in 1832 in Argentina, during the voyage of the Beagle. Now in the Chau Chak Wing Museum, @sydney.edu.au

Possibly the most chaotic #museum collection I've ever seen: a drawer containing literally thousands of pinned #flies, at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at @sydney.edu.au. True fact: this drawer contains more museum objects than the entire UK National Gallery.

Australia did a pretty good job of recreating the Oxbridge vibe with the University of Sydney (but with extra sunshine). Looking forward to chatting about #NaturesMemory at the Chau Chak Wing Museum later, and for some meetings about potential #platypus collaborations! 😀

I'm heading back to the mountains of #Tasmania and preparing for snow 🏔❄️, hoping to wake up each morning with my tent surrounded by #wombats. ⛺️ It's time to roll out the trusty kit-list spreadsheet! 🤓

A fascinating read. In "The Unnatural Trade" @brycchancarey.bsky.social shows how almost all early accounts of the slave trade - which British abolitionists later used as evidence - were written by naturalists. And these same natural histories were then used to argue for the colonisation of Africa.

I've been given a nice little freelance research project that has me reaching deep into my bookshelves, including to a natural history encyclopedia that I've had since I was eight. 🥰

The last known #thylacine died #otd in 1936, remembered as #ThreatenedSpeciesDay. Our podcast series explores how #museums built collections of #thylacines, & the violent events surrounding their #extinction in #Tasmania. Have a listen 🔊: soundcloud.com/university-o...

Despite the fact that #squirrels are one of Britain's most common mammals, and I see them every day, I've never encountered a baby one before. 🐿👶 Sad to say, it probably shouldn't be on the ground. #MammalWatching #UKwildlife

Folks in #Sydney & #Tasmania, here's some events with surprising, funny, troubling and planet-saving stories from behind the scenes at the world's natural history #museums, from my book #NaturesMemory: @sydney.edu.au: www.sydney.edu.au/museum/whats... #Hobart: www.hobartbookshop.com.au/page/Events

42. NATURE’S MEMORY by @jackdashby.bsky.social. A strong defence of natural history museums, with a curator’s-eye view of their clouded history and vital importance today. Recommended for all nature fans, and stuffed full of anecdotes.

Wasp #spiders are surely one of the most spectacular invertebrates found in the UK. They were first recorded on the south coast 100 years ago, having spread from the continent, and are expanding their range northwards with the warming climate. #spider #UKwildlife

I love the well rounded amongst us

Scratching and munching: the main activities of a #wombat's waking life. #WombatWednesday #fieldwork #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombats

Old whaling accounts mention the sea boiling and bubbling with #whale breath. It is amazing that this isn't just stuck in the history books anymore. 🐳 #humpbacks #whales #WesternAustralia #MammalWatching #WildOz

Sadly, #extinctionIsForever

A #quokka grazing with a fully bulging pouch. 🦘👶 #MammalWatching #Rottnest #WildOz #quokkas

Every now and then you catch yourself realising that #MuseumLife is not normal life.

Every part of a #wombat is round. #WombatWednesday #fieldwork #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombats

Fur seal wrestling. They're play-fighting, but there are some serious wallops in there! Also, check out those gorgeous whiskers. 🦭🤼 #seals #MammalWatching #WesternAustralia #Rottnest #WildOz

Are there any other authors out there who find it impossible to walk past a bookshop without going in to check if they have your latest in stock? 😅 Anyway, there are now piles of signed copies of #NaturesMemory at Waterstones Trafalgar Square and the flagship Foyles on Charing Cross Road. 📖✍️

And a few more bingo boxes too...

This is a lovely read on why natural history museums matter, as a fragment of the ecosystems that once existed, but also as assemblages of human actions, impacts, and biases

The last known Rodrigues parakeet died exactly 150 years ago. This story ticks a lot of natural history museum bingo boxes: ✔️Sex bias in natural history ✔️Colonial legacies ✔️Dodos But also, how museum specimens act as irreplaceable records of lost biodiversity: theconversation.com/the-rodrigue...

"Incidentally, although women have always played a major role in natural history, only 8% of birds named after people are named after women." #womeninscience #envhist #museums #naturalhistory

It is an extraordinary feeling to hold the sum total of physical evidence that a species ever existed. The last known Rodrigues parakeet was killed #OTD 150 years ago today, and here are the only specimens in existence. I wrote about it in @uk.theconversation.com: theconversation.com/the-rodrigue...

How and why Australian mammals have consistently been written-off by much of the world is the key theme of my book #PlatypusMatters, and the brilliant @zoekeansci.bsky.social has written a great article on this topic (& thanks to her for the shout-out!).🦘🐨 Have a read: www.abc.net.au/news/science...

150 years ago today, the last known Rodrigues parakeet died. It - and one other specimen - is now in @zoologymuseum.bsky.social: the only physical evidence the species ever existed. I wrote about them & the importance of #museums in our knowledge of #extinction: theconversation.com/the-rodrigue...

Happy re-birthday to @suethetrex.bsky.social - the most complete #Trex specimen ever found - uneartherd 35 years ago today. In my book #NaturesMemory: Behind the Scenes at the World's Natural History #Museums, I describe SUE as one of the most effective natural history exhibits I’ve ever seen ⛏️🦖🏆

Timeline lift. Wombats are great. Follow Jack for more.

A wild wombat wandering in wetlands. #WombatWednesday #fieldwork #Tasmania #wombat #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombats

Whoa

This Rosenberg's monitor is giving some serious side-eye down on the south coast of #WesternAustralia. #OzHerps #lizards

A wet baby #wombat on a spin cycle. #WombatWednesday #fieldwork #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombats

No live #platypus has ever reached the UK, but in #PlatypusMatters I share how, at the height of WW2, Churchill asked Australia to send him one. The story goes that it died of shock when its ship was attacked, but new research suggests that may not be the whole story: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Based on stories I came across when researching my book #NaturesMemory, @museumsassociation.org have published a piece I wrote on how natural history #museums can help save the planet, in more ways than one: www.museumsassociation.org/museums-jour...

1. It's cool that there are so many new things still to discover about our world (especially insects!) 2. DNA sequencers are all very well, but sometimes you have to break out the real high tech: "The insect was so high up that they had to use a long stick to get it down."

Nothing waddles more gloriously than an #echidna. They have a unique arrangement of bones in their shoulders and hips, giving them a perfect rolling gait. They walk as if they're humming "BOMP-TE-BOMP BOMPETTY BOMP-TE-BOMP" to themselves. #echidnas #MammalWatching #WildOz #Dryandra #WesternAustralia

Two of the charismatic endemic birds of southwest #WesternAustralia: Baudin's black #cockatoo and Carnaby's black cockatoo. They can be told apart by their bills: Baudin's (in the tree) bill is much longer than Carnaby's (on the ground) - they were once considered a single species. #OzBirds #parrots

A giant stick insect, as long as your forearm, has been described in Australia. Even in a country as well studied as this, there is still so much to learn. #WildOz www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Wombats have little ears, and unlike many other species of bat, they are not known to use echolocation.🦇 #WombatWednesday #fieldwork #wombats #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombats #bats

I've worked out a hack for "performing" at festivals: do a kids workshop in the smallest venue in the entire site, & enjoy the perks of being a performer without any of the pressure! 😅 Thanks for having me, Latitude!And thanks to the kids who gave great answers to the questions I asked in my session

What a nest and great zoom from @jackdashby.bsky.social

There is something inherently pleasing about chubby animals just sitting there staring at you (particularly when they're Critically Endangered beasts like this western ringtail #possum). #MammalWatching #WildOz #WesternAustralia