http://snuze.blogspot.com/2015/06/i-make-lousy-fossil.html
Ta-da!
The Museum of Zoology is located in a new-ish block in the Institute of
Biological Science (better known as ISB , Institut Sains Biologi),
Faculty of Science. It is adjacent to the Institute of Mathematical
Science (whose notice boards feature the most interesting stuff about
numbers that even those allergic to maths like me find fascinating) and
is open during weekdays from 9 am to 4 pm.
The entrance to the museum.
We were fortunate that the curator, Prof. Sasekumar, very graciously
agreed to open the museum to us on a weekend and made himself available
to show us around and answer our questions.
Prof. Sasekumar, the Curator.
He explained that a large number of the specimens were collected over
the years from various sources. Some were donated by state museums that
have run out of space to store their natural history specimens, while
others were the university's own research collection. A few others were
gifts from visiting biologists who brought specimens of animals that are
common in their country, like the muskrat specimen from North America
and a piranha from Brazil. It was here that I discovered that piranhas
look a lot like pomfrets with bad teeth.
Prof. Sasekumar explaining the Earth's biological time scale.
Prof. Sasekumar began the tour by explaining the wonderful mural of the
Earth's geological and biological time scale that was painstakingly done
by students of the ISB. No members of the
Homo spp. family were included in the mural as the most recent animal in the mural still predated
Lucy by a few
million years.
The Earth's biological time scale mural.
The Earth's geological time scale mural
The Curator further explained about how fossil evidence supports the
biological time scale. He invited us to read further on the geological
time scale as it was not his area of expertise and suggested that we
speak to the Geology Department for more information.
One of the members asked Prof. Sasekumar if he has had to answer questions from students who are inclined towards
creationism. His adroit answer was, "Let's keep science and religion separate."
Some of the resources available at the museum. Sticky tape is optional.
Look at the date of the periodical at the far right.
Prof. Sasekumar took us into his office for fossil viewing. I was gaping
so much at this huge replica of a crinoid leaf fossil that I forgot to
snap a pic. It looked like Han Solo in carbonite! He explained to us
that fossils are generally expensive and that most that are on display
are replicas of some sort. However, he did show us one of the few real
fossil specimen of the museum which was a
trilobite fossil. It was a lot smaller than what was shown in my biology text books, that's for sure.
Previously, there was no real effort to hunt for fossils in Malaysia. The recent
discovery in Pahang
gives hope to paleontologists and dinosaur hunters in the country for
more exciting discoveries to come. The BBC has an excellent page of
resources on fossils, which you can
visit here.
The Godfathers of Biology: Darwin, Linnaeus, Wallace and Mandel
Decorating the entrance to the exhibit are posters of the Godfathers of Biology;
Charles Darwin,
Carolus Linnaeus,
Alfred Russel Wallace and
Fr. Gregor Mandel.
I can't wait for the September talk on Russell Wallace! Please visit
the APOSL Facebook page for updates on this talk and other exciting
events.
The Zoology Museum is divided into several sections: the Fossilarium (in
Prof. Sasekumar's office), the Osteological exhibits, the Rainforest
Diorama, the Animal Diversity exhibit, the River Basin Diorama and the
Entomology Box.
The Osteological or bones exhibit feature several specimens that help us
compare how form matches function in terms of skeletal structure.
Although all bones are hardened by calcium, the structure differs to
match the form and function of the animal.
Prey vs Predator skull comparison.
The crocodile skull above is an excellent example. Its skull is heavy, with a hinged jaw that gives it one of
the most powerful bite
in the animal kingdom. The muscles that hold the jaw open, however, are
relatively weak, which makes the slamming force of the upper jaw
snapping shut perfect for quick kills.
Their triangular teeth is perfect for tearing their prey's flesh, but
the lack of molars means that crocs cannot chew their food. Therefore,
crocodiles use biting and whiplash motions to rip their prey apart and
swallow the pieces whole. Think of it as swallowing your KFC drumstick
as a whole piece. Plant-based food requires a lot of chewing to render
it digestible, so this lack of molar also means a strict Atkins diet and
no carbs for the crocs.
The crocodiles' metabolism is relatively sluggish and they take a long
time to digest the pieces of prey that they swallowed. This is why they
only need to eat every few weeks or so and spend most of their time just
hanging out and chilling. Eyes at the top of their head are perfect for
scouting careless prey moseying by where they lie in wait, half
submerged.
Multi-teeth nightmares are made of these.
You expect to be frightened by the fangs of predators but nothing
prepared me for the squirm-inducing teeth of herbivorous critters.
Apparently plant-devouring critters have TONNES OF MOLARS to help them
grind down their tough and fibrous vegetarian meals. I can't really
explain why they give me the heebie-jeebies, but if you have
trypophobia, you would probably understand.
Not serpent wine
No El Nino this year, thank God
I found the water cycle diorama interesting as it gave a good
explanation about the great flood that affected Kelantan late last year.
Did people really think that they can raze forests to a nub and that
nature will not retaliate? Idiots.
Flood oracle
Scary tales.
We never really pay attention to soil loss because we are in the
tropics. But in places where desertification is a problem, people
scrutinise water movement and soil erosion in order to arrest the
widening of deserts. Let's hope that we don't let things get that far
before we do something concrete about our top soil loss.
The exhibit included some fine examples of the local fauna. Sadly, a
number of them are already no more, and many more are on the endangered
species list (e.g. kancil, binturong, tenggiling etc.). I'm an omnivor
myself, but I don't get people who eat animals that are already
diminished in number unless they actually dwell in the forest and cannot
get poultry et al. What's wrong with sticking to beef, rabbits,
chicken, etc? Assholes.
Tropical jungle animals
Corals and peat swamp forest
More on peat swamp forest.
I'm sure that not many of us here in Malaysia realise that we are home
to more than one kind of swamp forest: the mangrove as well as peat
swamp. Sepang used to be a humongous peat swamp forest reserve, as well
as many areas dotting the coastline of the peninsula.
The mangroves are important because it provides a nursery for the
natural fishery lots. Not to mention it helps to control coastal
erosion, provides home to tonnes of biodiversity, help to detoxify the
coastline and is a pretty neat place to visit.
Peat swamps are important because they are invaluable water catchment
areas, provide shelter and food to migratory birds, enriches the soil,
increases the underground water table reservoir, and many more. Sadly,
they are also located in areas that are prime for development. I guess
we'll only pay attention to the damage caused by loss of peat swamp
forest when we have problems like flash floods and top soil loss.
Oh wait. It's already on going but nobody cares.
Prof. Sasekumar explaining the difference between the stingless
and regular bees
We ended the tour with a visit to the stingless bee colony housed
outside the museum. The bees were acquired from an apiary in Melaka.
They produce small quantities of high quality honey that the Institute
sells on a seasonal basis. What a pity that our visit did not coincide
with the season. *pouts*
Stingless bee colony
The museum may be modest in size but is chock-full of information on
Malaysia's environmental heritage with its exhibits of preserved animal
specimens and informative posters. The museum is happy to entertain
tours of pax up to 20 people, so please contact them if you are
interested!
