Skip navigation
Honeybee

Skip to page content

You are here: Home > NaturePlus > Nature Live > Nature Live > Blog > 2011 > March

The NaturePlus Forums will be offline from mid August 2018. The content has been saved and it will always be possible to see and refer to archived posts, but not to post new items. This decision has been made in light of technical problems with the forum, which cannot be fixed or upgraded.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to the very great success of the forums and to the community spirit there. We plan to create new community features and services in the future so please watch this space for developments in this area. In the meantime if you have any questions then please email:

Fossil enquiries: esid@nhm.ac.uk
Life Sciences & Mineralogy enquiries: bug@nhm.ac.uk
Commercial enquiries: ias1@nhm.ac.uk

Up to Blog Posts in Nature Live
Previous Next

Nature Live

March 2011
Jo Kessler - Nature Live host
0
ollie.JPG
Meet Ollie Crimmen, fish section, Zoology. A scientist with a 37 year history at NHM. Earlier today I hosted his event (14:30 to be precise, come see a Nature Live sometime!) where he spoke with our audience about the likelihood of great whites in the UK. It seems the water temperature would suit and they have certainly been known to travel huge distances before. Food sources aren't a problem here either. So why no confirmed sightings? Maybe it's just a matter of time.....

The specimen here is from the massive collections Ollie cares for and is from a great white found stranded on a beach in Port Fairy, Australia. From at least as far back as 1831. For those of you located on UK shores, pop Ollie on your speed dial. He'll want to be the first to know if you spot Carchorodon carcharias roaming our coastal waters....
1164 Views 0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: scientists, natural_history_museum, attenborough_studio, curation, zoology, great_white_sharks
Jo Kessler - Nature Live host
0

Friday March 25th sees the second of our evening events linked to the current Sexual Nature exhibition. The Science of the Sexual Spectrum has all the promise of a hearty debate on such questions as; is a person's sexuality determined by genes or environment? Is there a spectrum where we all have a fixed place? Should we even be looking for a scientific answer to such questions?

 

Our speakers: Peter Tatchell, Jeffrey Weeks and Qazi Rahman are excellently placed to lead the discussion with myself and Tom hosting what we envisage to be a fascinating exchange on sexual orientation.

 

Join the conversation - Audience is king at Nature Live so we'd love readers to contribute a burning question on the subject. Post yours here and we'll endeavour to read it out on the night. You can follow us on Twitter on the night from 18.30 @NatureLive and get stuck in yourselves #sexualnature. We're talking about sex so welcome the explicit and expect the respectful. Oh and by the way you can come too....

 

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/events/programs/naturelive/the_science_of_the_sexual_spectrum_-_after_hours_event.html

 

The Nature Live swingometer patiently waits to make its debut on the 25th. On the night, which way will the votes go? If it's between straight or gay, where on it would you be?

 

swing.JPG

2595 Views 0 Comments 0 References Permalink
Charlotte - Nature Live host
0

Hopping Mad

Posted by Charlotte - Nature Live host Mar 13, 2011

It's been a busy weekend of events....first Tadpoles on Saturday and then Dwarf Elephants on Sunday.  A curious combination of topics, but each equally fascinating!

 

Our Tadpole event was timed to tie-in with the first frog spawn starting to appear in our ponds.....which apparently it is, although warmer weather should help more appear.  Apparently (according to our amphibian curator Barry Clarke) frogs have been known to produce spawn as early as December some years, but hard frosts kill the eggs and it's not until the weather becomes milder that the tadpoles are able to start developing.  In fact, the warmer the weather, the quicker they devlop from tadpoles to adults.

 

Barry was a complete star as always and brought along lots of specimens from our zoology collections.

 

iphone pics 008.jpg

 

Note the specimen in the centre of the bottom row.....this is a Midwife Toad.  They show great parental care (unlike our common frogs which lay their eggs and then leave them!)  The female Midwife Toad lays her eggs and the male then wraps them around his back legs.  He then carries them around with him (swimming and moving about seemingly unhindered) until the tadpoles are ready to emerge and swim off.  Because of this parental care, the eggs are far safer and have a greater chance of survival than if they were left unprotected.

 

iphone pics 009.jpg

However, for the ultimate in parental care, go onto the BBC website and use their 'wildlife finder' to watch some incredible footage of Darwin's frog.  You won't believe your eyes    http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Darwin%27s_Frog#p004j5y9

 

As for the Dwarf Elephants today, well, they were certainly small!  Tori Herridge (a researcher in our Palaeontology Department) brought along some fossils from our collections....including lots of teeth.  The photo below shows the tooth of an extinct Straight-Tusked Elephant at the bottom and an extinct Dwarf Elephant tooth at the top of the photo.  Quite a difference in size!  The Straight-Tusked Elephant was one of the largest elephants ever to live, and could grow to as much as 4 metres tall.  In comparison, Dwarf Elephants were sometimes only 1 metre tall as adults!

 

iphone pics 013.jpg

 

We'll be repeating Tori's Nature Live event later this month, at 2.30pm on Wednesday 30th March in the Attenborough Studio.  As always, the event is free and lasts for 30 minutes.  So come and join us if you can and discover more about these mysterious Dwarf Elephants.....

4339 Views 0 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: darwin_centre, biodiversity, scientists, fossils, research, wildlife, natural_history_museum, discussion, nature_live, museum, attenborough_studio, ecology, species, science, palaeontology, extinction, zoology, fossil, elephant, mammoth, frog, dwarf_elephant, toad, tadpoles, spring

Popular blog posts