Natural History Museum In London Research Articles

The Malacological Works and Taxa of Sylvanus Hanley (1819–1899)

ABSTRACT The malacological works of Sylvanus Hanley (and his relative Charles Thorpe) are discussed and their dates in some cases clarified. The taxa that first appear in these works are listed, their type specimens noted when known, and the current status of the available taxa discussed. Of the 375 species-group names that first appear in these works, 367 are available, and 8 are nomina nude. Of the 367 available species-group taxa, approximately 219 are now considered valid. Approximately 60% of the available species are represented by type material, mainly in the Natural History Museum in London and in the Leeds City Museum in Leeds, U.K. Hanley also described several genus-group and family-group names, some of which are still considered valid.

Bringing collections out of the dark.

Bringing collections out of the dark.

Whose Story is it Anyway? The Challenges of Conducting Institutional Histories

This paper is based on my experiences as an oral historian on the <em>Museum Lives</em> project, a joint undertaking between Kingston University and the Natural History Museum in London, which seeks to record the lives and careers of the Museum’s curators and scientists (retired and current). By focussing on scientists at a single institution the project becomes a study not only of individual scientists and the natural sciences but of the institution itself. As a result, in planning and conducting the interviews there are three narratives to be taken into account as narrators relate their stories: as practitioners within the science, as members of the institution and as individuals in their own right. In their accounts, the narrators talk for their science and for the Museum, but even more revealingly, perhaps for the first time, the project gives them space to talk of themselves, as members of the wider society. This paper will investigate the tensions that arise as a result of these separate but interconnected strands and the impact these tensions have on the stories which emerge.

IBS-sponsored events: Latest news from the forthcoming 2011 IBS meeting at Crete

profiles Banks’ Florilegium, published between 1980 and 1990. The Florilegium consists of over 700 botani- cal line engravings made from Sydney Parkinson’s watercolours, recording the plants collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Carl Solander on Captain James Cook’s first voyage around the world After 1990, Chris, with Dick Vane-Wright and Paul Williams, both (then) of the Entomology Department, the Natural History Museum, pooled their collective systematic and biogeographical expertise together and began to address ques- tions relating to conservation biology with their synthetic ‘WorldMap’ approach. After a decade of fruitful collaboration Chris returned to studying the distribution of plants on Macaronesia, the is- lands he cut his teeth on as a student. Chris received many honours: the Linnean Society’s Bicentenary Medal in 1980 and their Gold Medal in 2001; he was also an Honorary Fel- low of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science. He was President of the Sys- tematics Association (2001—2003) as well as its Treasurer (1996—9), and President of the Willi Hennig Society (1989—1991), being elected a Fel- low honoris causa in 1998. Chris was also Vice- President and Botanical Secretary of the Linnean Society (1994—1998). In 2008, a three-day Meeting was held in his honour at the Linnean Society; a Festschrift will be published in early 2010. David Williams Natural History Museum London , UK membership corner ISSN 1948-6596 IBS-sponsored events Latest news from the forthcoming 2011 IBS meeting at Crete The four invited-speakers symposia that will be held in the Crete meeting have now been decided upon. The list includes the following: 4. Mediterranean biogeography: where history meets ecology across scales (organizers: Spyros Sfenthourakis & Remy Petit) 1. Analytical advancements in macroecology and biogeography (organizers: Alexandre Diniz-Filho & Carsten Rahbek) Besides these symposia, additional thematic ses- sions will host contributed presentations, follow- ing the model started in the Merida meeting. The nature and topics covered by each session will be decided in the near future. 2. New Perspectives on Comparative Phy- logeography – novel integrative approaches and challenges (organizers: Ana Carnaval & Mike Hick- erson) Jens-Christian Svenning V. P. for Conferences 3. Biogeography and Ecology: Two Lenses in One Telescope (organizers: Dave Jenkins & Bob Rick- lefs) Spyros Sfenthourakis Organizing board of the 2011 IBS meeting You can find information about the International Biogeography Society at http:// www.biogeography.org/, and contact with other biogeographers at the IBS blog (http:// biogeography.blogspot.com/), the IBS facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php? gid=6908354463) and the IBS twitter channel (https://twitter.com/biogeography). frontiers of biogeography 1.1, 2009 — © 2009 the authors; journal compilation © 2009 The International Biogeography Society

Around the World

In science news around the world this week, outbreaks of H5N1 continue in poultry in south and southeast Asia—and the human death toll mounts; the University of Tokyo plans to shift the start of its school year from April to autumn; researchers are looking for signs of life in the Tissint meteorites; the Natural History Museum in London is under fire for its scientific cooperation with an Israeli company that conducts research in the occupied West Bank; Marco Antônio Raupp will become Brazil's new minister of science, technology, and innovation; and NASA's twin moon orbiters were officially christened Ebb and Flow.

History of the earthworm collections at the Natural History Museum, London

The Natural History Museum London houses one of the largest and most historic earthworm collections in the world. Despite some periods of inactivity, largely due to international events and a lack of general enthusiasm by collectors worldwide in some eras, it has continued to grow. Periods of rapid expansion of the collection coincide with eras of resident Oligochaete researchers at the Museum, however, the general growth can be in part attributed to Oligochaetoligists world wide and the assistance they provided each other and their respective institutions, something they continue to do to this day. This paper highlights the periods of growth, explains the times of inactivity and highlights the collection for future depositions and further utilisation by researchers worldwide.

Fifty Thousand Years of Extinction

Fifty Thousand Years of Extinction

The tree as evolutionary icon: TREE in the Natural History Museum, London (William T. Stearn Prize 2010)

As part of the Darwin celebrations in 2009, the Natural History Museum in London unveiled TREE, the first contemporary artwork to win a permanent place in the Museum. While the artist claimed that the inspiration for TREE came from Darwin's famous notebook sketch of branching evolution, sometimes referred to as his "tree of life" drawing, this article emphasises the apparent incongruity between Darwin's sketch and the artist's design -- best explained by other, complementary sources of inspiration. In the context of the Museum's active participation in struggles over science and religion, the effect of the new artwork is contradictory. TREE celebrates Darwinian evolutionism, but it resonates with deep-rooted, mythological traditions of tree symbolism to do so. This complicates the status of the Museum space as one of disinterested, secular science, but it also contributes, with or without the intentions of the Museum's management, to consolidate two sometimes conflicting strains within the Museum's history. TREE celebrates human effort, secular science and reason -- but it also evokes long-standing mythological traditions to inspire reverence and remind us of our humble place in the world.

The first earthworm collections from Nicaragua with description of two new species (Oligochaeta)

In August 2009 the Natural History Museum London, Hungarian Natural History Museum and Systematic Zoology Research group, Entomological Museum in Leon and The Society for Environmental Exploration, mounted the first earthworm collection expedition to Nicaragua. No native earthworm species had previously been recorded for this country. This paper lists 18 new species records for the Country with the description of two new taxa to science: Eutrigaster (Graffia) azul sp. n. and Eutrigaster (Graffia) nicaraoi sp. n. New data on the species Eutrigaster (Eutrigaster) oraedivitis Cognetti, 1904 is also presented here.

Phylogenetic Analysis Says Fungi Got Bacterial Genes via Transfers

Fungi not only undergo horizontal gene transfers (HGT)—exchanges of genetic material between species, according to Thomas A. Richards of the University of Exeter in England and his collaborators there and at the Natural History Museum in London. The process also fundamentally shaped how eukaryotic microbes obtain nutrients, he says. Details appear in the July 2011 Fungal Biology Reviews (25:98–110).

Taxonomic revision of the type specimens of Ethiopian Nippostrongylinae (Nematoda) deposited at the Natural History Museum of London

Taxonomic revision of the type specimens of Ethiopian Nippostrongylinae (Nematoda) deposited at the Natural History Museum of London

Biodiversity crunch

Biodiversity crunch

Systemic foundering

Systemic foundering

Archaeopteryx lithographica: an extreme makeover

This contribution outlines the steps taken to improve handling and safe access of the fossil Archaeopteryx lithographica (London specimen) for staff and visitors to the Natural History Museum in London. A review of risks and an outline of techniques applied are included.

The Taunton Project

This paper describes the palaeontological conservation carried out at the Natural History museum London, from 2008 until 2010, on the Taunton Museum's marine reptile collection. Taunton Museum is located in the county of Somerset and is governed by Somerset County Council. The collection of specimens encompassed ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and chelonia (turtles) all found in and around the Taunton and Somerset area. A few select specimens were conserved and prepared for wall mounting in the museum's new exhibition space. The other, smaller specimens were conserved and readied for placement into the newly built storage space back at Taunton Museum. This paper also focuses closely on the conservation and minor preparation of a large ichthyosaur, which was found in Lyme Regis (Lower Lias). This specimen was complete, though piecing it back together and stabilizing it for display proved much more challenging then one would expect.

Seven new synonyms within the genus Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from the Oriental Region

Examination of the type material of the Oriental representatives of the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Onthophagini) deposited at the Natural History Museum in London, National Museum of Natural History in Paris, Museum of Natural History in Basel and National Museum in Prague revealed seven new synonyms. The names synonymized herein were described as separate species mainly for two reasons. The first reason owes to the insufficient knowledge of entire Onthophagus diversity from Oriental Region and the fact that authors describing new species did not check the type material or even original descriptions for already described taxa. The following synonymized species were likely described due to this oversight: O. anamalaiensis Balthasar, 1974; O. chulapornus Masumoto, Ochi &amp; Hanboonong, 2008; O. demaak Masumoto, 1989; O. jucundus Arrow, 1931; O. laosensis Frey, 1971; and O. parvidens Frey, 1971. The second reason is the great range of intraspecific variation of such allometric characters as shape of head, horns and pronotum in Onthophagus. Therefore, detailed examination of the external characters for the large series of specimens, and careful study of male genitalia are required for reliable species identification. Unfortunately, this was not the case for many new species descriptions. In particular, O. perroti Paulian, 1978, was described as a species but actually only represents the minor form of O. orientalis Harold, 1868. The lectotype of O. gracilipes is designated in order to preserve the stability of zoological nomenclature.

A new species of Aspidophorodon Verma (Hemiptera, Aphididae) from the Altai Republic

Aspidophorodon (Eoessigia) vera, sp. nov. is described from specimens collected in the Altai Republic on Pentaphylloides fruticosa. Apterous viviparous females are described and illustrated, and biometric data provided. This aphid species is closely related to A. (E.) indica (David, Rajasingh et Narayanan, 1972). Type specimens are deposited at the Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk, Russia), the Zoological Institute, the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia), and the Natural History Museum (London, England).

Taxonomic revision of the type specimens of Ethiopian Nippostrongylinae (Nematoda) deposited at the Natural History Museum of London

We studied the original material of several species of Nippostrongylinae (Nematoda: Heligmonellidae) described by H. A. Baylis in muroid rodents from Nigeria: Heligmonina praomyos Baylis, 1928, Heligmonina oenomyos Baylis, 1928, Heligmonina cricetomyos Baylis, 1928, Neoheligmonella affinis (Baylis, 1928), Neoheligmonella intermedia (Baylis, 1928), Neoheligmonella gracilis (Baylis, 1928), Neoheligmonella impudica (Baylis, 1928), Neoheligmonella moennigi (Baylis, 1928), and Heligmonoides murina Baylis, 1928. The comparison of the material examined to the original descriptions, revealed the presence of at least seven other species mixed among the type and voucher material. For the nominal species of Baylis lectotypes and paralectotypes are designated. Due to the poor condition of the material, the other species found were only identifiable to generic level. Most of them were coparasitic with Baylis’ species. The following species associations were found: Heligmonina praomyos + Neoheligmonella moennigi, Heligmonina oenomyos + Neoheligmonella sp. 1, Heligmonina cricetomyos + Neoheligmonella moennigi, Heligmonina sp. 2 + Neoheligmonella sp. 4. Tables with the identification of the specimens studied are provided. New morphometrical data and illustrations on this material are also provided, particularly on the anterior part of the body and genital apparatus in the females. The occurrence of coparasitism as a frequent phenomenon among the Trichostrongylina is highlighted.

Phaneropterinae (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) from Turkey and the Middle East II

A rich and interesting material collected from Turkey and the neighbouring countries including the Middle East has been evaluated. The material consists of the historical and unidentified specimens mainly in the Naturhistorisches Musem Wien, the Natural History Museum London and the specimens recently collected and preserved in the Abant Izzet Baysal Üniversitesi Entomoloji Müzesi. Eight genera and 106 species and subspecies are listed The Isophya species are included into 7, the Poecilimon species are included into 16 species groups. The relationships of the species and the species groups are proposed as phylogenetic trees in writing format. Three distinct clades of the species groups of Poecilimon are separated and discussed their taxonomic positions. The genus Poecilimonella Uvarov, 1921 is included to the genus Poecilimon Fischer, 1853 and the species Poecilimon richteri Ramme, 1933 is synonymized with Poecilimon similis Retowski, 1899. Twelve new species and subspecies, Isophya hitit, I. sureyai amazonae, I. artvin, Poecilimon inopinatus, P. ferwillemsei, P. solus, P. obtusicercus kasnak, P. iucundus aequocercus, P. longicercus, P. similis proximus, P. diversus, P. Istanbul, are described. The females of 3 taxa, Poecilimon obtusicercus obtusicercus Heller et al., Poecilimon xenocercus Karabag and Poecilimon concinnus Brunner are described for the first time. Poecilimon concinnus Brunner, 1878 has been rediscovered since its description. The following 12 taxa are proposed in subspecies level: Isophya sureyai sureyai Ramme, I. stenocauda stenocauda Ramme, I. stenocauda obenbergeri Maran, I. anatolica anatolica Ramme, I. anatolica pentheri Ramme; Poecilimon obtusicercus obtusicercus Heller et al., P. adentatus adentatus Ramme, P. adentatus uvarovi Ramme, P. celebi celebi Karabag, P. celebi azdavayi Ünal, P. celebi tevfikarabagi Ünal and P. iucundus iucundus Ünal. The lectotypes for 8 species, Isophya amplipennis Brunner, I. savignyi Brunner, I. major Brunner, I. rectipennis Brunner, Poecilimon pergamicus Brunner, P. hamatus Brunner, P. unispinosus Brunner, P. zonatus I. Bolivar, are designated. Poecilimon cognatus (Fieber, 1853) is proposed as nomen novum. The determined congeneric partners of the species and subspecies are given. Five speciation stages which determine the taxonomic position for the taxa of Isophya and Poecilimon are designated. In addition 147 figures and a distributional map for the new taxa are provided.

John Lawson's Plant Collections from North Carolina 1710–1711

In 1710 and 1711, naturalist and author John Lawson sent collections of dried plants from eastern North Carolina to James Petiver in England. Two hundred and ninety five of these specimens survived and are maintained in the Sloane Herbarium of the Natural History Museum in London. Many of the specimens bear tags in Lawson's hand giving the date, location, and notes describing use or habitat. One hundred and one taxa are listed here along with discussion of some of the notes that connect Lawson's plant collecting to important events in his life and to the colonial history of North Carolina. The story concerning how these specimens were collected and maintained provides insight into the methods of botanical science in the early eighteenth century.