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Book chapter
Harnessing the power of natural science collections: a blueprint for the UK
Between September 2021 and March 2022, a consortium across the twelve major regions of the UK, led by the Natural History Museum, London (NHM), participated in a study to develop the business case and plan to support a national programme of natural science collections digitisation. This work, funded by the... -
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Book chapter
Museum Egg Collections
Birds' eggs are true wonders of the natural world: they are strong enough to protect the embryo as it develops, yet sufficiently fragile to allow the chick to hatch. Little wonder that the enormous diversity of avian eggs – the amazing range of shapes, sizes, colours and patterns – has...McGowan, Robert Y
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Book chapter
Animal remains and human-animal-environment relationships at Early Neolithic Bestansur and Shimshara
The Eastern Fertile Crescent region of western Iran and eastern Iraq hosted major developments in the transition from hunter-forager to farmer-herder lifestyles through the Early Neolithic period, 10,000-7000 BC. Within the scope of the Central Zagros Archaeological Project, excavations have been conducted since 2012 at two Early Neolithic sites in...Bendrey, Robin ; Van Neer, Wim ; Bailon, Salvador ; Rofes, Juan ; Herman, Jeremy S …
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Book chapter
Systematic, evolution and genetic of bears
Bears have fascinated people since ancient times. The relationship between bears and humans dates back thousands of years, during which time we have also competed with bears for shelter and food. In modern times, bears have come under pressure through encroachment on their habitats, climate change, and illegal trade in...Kitchener, Andrew C ; Bellemain, Eva ; Kopatz, Alexander ; Mano, Tsutomu ; Tsuruga, Hifumi …
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Book chapter
Worked bone, antler, teeth and shell
The Sculptor’s Cave is one of the most enigmatic prehistoric sites in Britain. Excavated in the 1920s and 1970s, new analysis of the archive has revealed a complex history of funerary and ritual activity from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman Iron Age. Using innovative methods and new techniques, this...Cruickshanks, Gemma ; Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
Objects made of iron and bone
During the late 1st millennium BC into the early 1st millennium AD, the small island of Unst in the far north of the Shetland (and British) Isles was home to well-established and connected farming and fishing communities. The Iron Age settlement at Milla Skerra was occupied for at least 500...Goldberg, D Martin ; Hunter, Fraser
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Hugh Miller’s Palace of Printing
The writer, self-taught geologist and stonemason Hugh Miller (1802-1856) was one of Scotland’s finest nature writers. Born in Cromarty, his works made him a household name, and to this day his lyrical style transports readers to stand beside him at the rock-face. Celebrating his legacy, this anthology brings together prose...Taylor, Michael A
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Book chapter
Fossils of the Mind
The writer, self-taught geologist and stonemason Hugh Miller (1802-1856) was one of Scotland’s finest nature writers. Born in Cromarty, his works made him a household name, and to this day his lyrical style transports readers to stand beside him at the rock-face. Celebrating his legacy, this anthology brings together prose...Panciroli, Elsa
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Book chapter
Museum nature
From Aztec accounts of hibernating hummingbirds to contemporary television spectaculars, human encounters with nature have long sparked wonder, curiosity and delight. Written by leading scholars, this richly illustrated volume offers a lively introduction to the history of natural history, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Covering an extraordinary...Alberti, S J M M
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Book chapter
Developing a modern diorama: changing habitats in Scotland since the end of the last Ice Age
Dioramas were once a commonly used tool for communicating the natural world to museum visitors, but in the second half of the twentieth century they fell out of fashion despite their effectiveness in interpretation. This decline was probably caused by lack of funding and space, a decline in numbers of...Kitchener, Andrew C.
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Book chapter
Eskimo Curlew
McGowan, R Y ; Shaw, K D
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Book chapter
Pioneers in Scottish Ornithology
McGowan, R Y
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Book chapter
Great Spotted Woodpecker
McGowan, R Y
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Book chapter
History of the fauna
Yalden, Derek W ; Kitchener, Andrew C
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Cream-coloured Courser
McGowan, R Y ; Morton, K
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Book chapter
Great Northern Diver
McGowan, R Y
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Book chapter
Family Ursidae (Bears)
Kitchener, Andrew C ; Yalden, Derek W
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Book chapter
Feral cat Felis catus
Macdonald, David W ; Kitchener, Andrew C
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Wildcat Felis silvestris
Kitchener, Andrew C ; Daniels, Mike
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Feral ferret Mustela furo
Kitchener, Andrew C ; Birks, J D S
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Wolf Canis lupus
Kitchener, Andrew C ; Yalden, Derek W
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Polecat Mustela putorius
Birks, J D S ; Kitchener, Andrew C
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The Hafizi Nightingale
McGowan, R Y
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Inventory
Shaw, Mark R
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Hymenopterous parasitoids of diptera
Shaw, Mark R ; Askew, R R
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Book chapter
What is amber?
How Is Amber Produced?; Amber Inclusions; Evidence of Animal Behavior; Animal Products; Preservationl Inorganic Inclusionsl Animal Interactions; Parasitism; Mutualism; Commensalism; Predation; Plant Inclusions; Gymnosperms; Angiosperms; The Ancient Amber Forests; The Search for DNA; Reports of DNA in Amber; Is Jurassic Park Possible?Ross, Andrew
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Bone and antler
Hunter, Fraser ; Kitchener, Andrew C
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Book chapter
From obstetrics to oryctology: inside the mind of William Hunter (1718–1783)
Today William Hunter is remembered mainly for his pioneering work in obstetrics and for our understanding of the lymphatic system, but his interests were wide-ranging, encompassing artworks (the first to collect Chardin), archaeological, numismatic and bibliographical items. As a key figure in the Enlightenment, he was one of the few...Liston, Jeff
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Book chapter
The evolution of avian intelligence and sensory capabilities: the fossil evidence
Crocodiles and birds are the only living representatives of Archosauria, a once diverse clade of vertebrates that mastered terrestrial, aerial and aquatic environments during the Mesozoic. Because the braincases of archosaurs are largely ossified, the group has particularly benefited from advances in non-destructive visualisation of endocranial structures over the past...Walsh, Stig A ; Knoll, F
Neurosensory evolution, Wulst, Dinosaur, Flocculus, and Bird
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Book chapter
19. Lygistorrhinidae (long-beaked fungus gnats)
Suricata is a new sister journal to SANBI’s Strelitzia, and is a peer-reviewed publication that publishes original and applied research such as monographs, revisions, checklists, Red Data Lists, atlases, and Fauna’s of any taxa belonging to Regnum Animalia (the Animal Kingdom). In the past, some extensive faunal research was published...Blagoderov, Vladimir
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Book chapter
18. Keroplatidae (predaceous fungus gnats)
Suricata is a new sister journal to SANBI’s Strelitzia, and is a peer-reviewed publication that publishes original and applied research such as monographs, revisions, checklists, Red Data Lists, atlases, and Fauna’s of any taxa belonging to Regnum Animalia (the Animal Kingdom). In the past, some extensive faunal research was published...Blagoderov, Vladimir ; Ševcík, Jan
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Book chapter
28. Dixidae (meniscus midges or dixid midges)
Suricata is a new sister journal to SANBI’s Strelitzia, and is a peer-reviewed publication that publishes original and applied research such as monographs, revisions, checklists, Red Data Lists, atlases, and Fauna’s of any taxa belonging to Regnum Animalia (the Animal Kingdom). In the past, some extensive faunal research was published...Blagoderov, Vladimir ; Ševcík, Jan
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Book chapter
Extraordinary Lagerstätten in Amber, with particular reference to the Cretaceous of Burma
Evolutionary biologists have long been concerned by the incompleteness of the fossil record. Although our knowledge of the diversity of life in ‘deep time’ has improved, many lineages of extant animals and plants still have only sparse fossil documentation. Even groups with ‘hard parts’ that render them suitable for fossilization...Ross, Andrew
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Book chapter
“Zadziwiający bursztyn” (“Amazing Amber”). Wyzwania związane z przygotowaniem wystawy o burstztynie i możliwości rozwiązań
Used for centuries as a decorative artefact, amber was treasured, too, for its perceived magical powers, crafted into charms and amulets to heal and ward off evil spirits. Amber also has the unique capacity to preserve fragile life that is millions of years old, opening a special window into the...Ross, Andrew ; Sheridan, J A
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Book chapter
Form and function of the musteloids
The musteloids are the most diverse super-family among carnivores, ranging from little known, exotic, and highly-endangered species to the popular and familiar, and include a large number of introduced invasives. They feature terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal, and aquatic members, ranging from tenacious predators to frugivorous omnivores, span weights from a 100g...Kitchener, Andrew C ; Meloro, Carlo ; Williams, Terrie M
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Book chapter
Leedsichthys problematicus: Arthur Smith Woodward's ‘most embarrassing enigma’
The link between the renowned palaeoichthyologist Arthur Smith Woodward and the similarly lauded marine reptile collector Alfred Nicholson Leeds may seem an unlikely one, but they formed a close family friendship during their professional acquaintance. Amongst the many fish specimens described by Smith Woodward from Leeds’ Oxford Clay collection, the...Liston, Jeff
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Book chapter
The significance of Natural History collections in the 21st century
Essays investigating the idea of natural heritage and the ways in which it has changed over time. The concepts of nature, culture and heritage are deeply entwined; their threads run together in some of our finest museums, in accounts of exploration and discovery, in the work of artists, poets and...Hewitt, Stephen M
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Book chapter
What is a snow leopard? Taxonomy, morphology and phylogeny
Snow leopards: biodiversity of the world: conservation from genes to landscapes is the only comprehensive work on the biology, behavior, and conservation status of the snow leopard, a species that has long been one of the least studied, and hence poorly understood, of the large cats. Breakthroughs in technologies and...Kitchener, Andrew C ; Driscoll, C A ; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki
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Book chapter
Insects in Burmese amber
Burmese amber contains the highest diversity of insects out of all the Cretaceous ambers. There are 26 orders and 206 families recorded and 252 described species, of which 211 have been named in the past 15 years. The number of families is about half of all known insect families living...Ross, Andrew
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Book chapter
Zooplankton Identification Manual for North European Seas (ZIMNES)
The ecological importance of marine zooplankton cannot be overestimated. Throughout the world’s oceans, plankton species abundance and diversity impact, determine and drive global cycles, food-web structure and ecosystem stability (Banse, 1995; Sommer, 1996; Lindley et al., 2003). Plankton communities mediate transfer of organic matter from the productive photic zone to...Hastie, L C ; Rasmussen, J ; Angel, M V ; Boxshall, G A ; Chambers, Susan …
horticulture and forestry, agriculture, Natural resource management, and Ecology and conservation
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Book chapter
Collecting nature within nature – animal inclusings in Amber in Early Modern Collections, or “Miniture marvels of nature”
When the French diplomat Charles Ogier saw frogs and lizards embedded in amber for sale during his visit to Danzig in November 1635 he called them “miniature miracles of nature.” With rare exceptions, few of these objects—copiously documented in inventories of the time—have actually survived. Instead, we must depend on...King, Rachel
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Book chapter
What is a tiger? Biogeography, morphology, and taxonomy
The tiger has always had a considerable impact on human cultures, especially where people and tigers have lived together and still do co-exist. It is certainly one of the most easily recognizable cats, with its distinctive and unique striped coat and is also commonly believed to be the biggest cat...Kitchener, Andrew C ; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki
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Book chapter
Land bridge calibration of rates of molecular evolution in a widespread rodent
There is mounting evidence that rates of molecular evolution decay over recent timescales. Care is needed, therefore, to apply appropriate rates whenever molecular variation is analysed within a temporal context. Given their focus on recent events, intraspecific phylogeographic and demographic studies are particularly vulnerable to erroneous application of rates appropriate...Herman, Jeremy S ; Paupério, J ; Alves, P C ; Searle, Jeremy B
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Book chapter
Biodiversity, biogeography and phylogeography of Ordovician rhynchonelliform brachiopods
The phylogeographical evolution and the consequent changing distribution and diversity of rhynchonelliform brachiopods through the Ordovician are linked to the dynamic palaeogeography of the period. The Early Ordovician (Tremadocian and Floian) is characterized by globally low-diversity faunas with local biodiversity epicentres, notably on the South China Palaeoplate; low-latitude porambonitoid-dominated faunas...Harper, David A T ; Rasmussen, Christian M Ø ; Liljeroth, Maria ; Blodgett, Robert B ; Candela, Yves …
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Book chapter
Large cats
Based on the acclaimed print series, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., this new supplement covers extinct life. Written for students and general researchers, this supplement explores all aspects of extinctions and extinct life. Approximately 80 articles outline major extinctions and related scientific areas. - Extract from publisher's websiteKitchener, Andrew C
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Book chapter
Growth, age and size of the Jurassic pachycormid Leedsichthys problematicus (Osteichthyes: Actinopterygii)
The Jurassic pachycormid osteichthyan Leedsichthys problematicus is renowned for having been able to achieve prodigious size for a bony fish. Building on work of MARTILL (1986a), a thorough examination of all known material was conducted in order to constrain estimates of the size of this animal and examine its rate...Liston, Jeff ; Newbrey, Michael G. ; Challands, Thomas James ; Adams, Colin E
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Book chapter
The plasticity of gill raker characteristics in suspension feeders: Implications for Pachycormiformes
Pachycormids apparently represent part of the first radiation of the total group of teleosts, and therefore are important in understanding stem teleost phylogeny. Gill rakers (or fanunculi) are elements of the gill skeleton (branchial basket) in fishes that function primarily to protect respiratory lamellae, and sometimes have a secondary role...Liston, Jeff