Tag Archives for collections

The Okapi: Biology, Conservation, and Why this Elusive Species matters to Collections

Written by Emma Winnard, Sixth form student studying A-level Biology, Chemistry, and Geology, with a strong interest in zoology, botany, and museum collections.

The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is one of the most distinctive large mammals in the world, yet it remains one of the least well understood. Endemic to the dense tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the okapi occupies an ecological niche that is both geographically restricted and extremely difficult to study directly. As a result, much of what we know about the species has been built not only from limited field observations, but also from museum specimens, archival records, and associated botanical and habitat material held in natural science collections.

This is what makes the okapi such a useful example for thinking about collections. When an animal is rarely seen, difficult to survey, and increasingly threatened, preserved specimens and older records can become far more than historical curiosities.

A pair of okapi in a lush forest setting. The species’ striped legs and dark coat help break up its outline in the dappled light of dense forest habitat.
© Photo by Brett Aukburg, via Pexels. Pexels Licence.

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Scott Wilson’s Iʻiwi: Colouring the Past

Written by Dan Gordon, Keeper of Biology, The Great North Museum: Hancock.

Sometimes you come across something in the stores that catches your eye. Something a little puzzling, maybe something hiding in plain sight, or in a drawer you’d never had cause to open before. For me, the specimen in question was a bright red bird. Clearly historic by its beady glass eyes, but seemingly lacking any other provenance, and identity unknown. The appearance was striking, with bright scarlet feathers and a long, curved bill like a scimitar. This made identifying it the easiest step – an I’iwi (ee-EE-wi) one of the Hawaiian Honeycreepers, and a little surprising, given its rarity. It sat alone, without context, among a flock of other small birds, drawing your eye as a patch of scarlet amongst the browns and greys. A mystery, then.

NEWHM : 2016.H5 – I’iwi (Drepanis coccinea) collected by Scott B. Wilson 1888. All images credited to The Natural History Society of Northumbria.

A bit of digging in the archives began to shed some light. Two of a Honey-Eater from Keauhou, Kona – Presented per J. Hancock by Scott Wilson Esq. looked like a likely candidate. One of a pair, collected from the Big Island, Hawaii, reached us here in 1889. The Natural History Society of Northumbria were keen collectors of specimens from all over the world at that time, but this one seemed unusual. Who was Scott Wilson, and why might he have sent them here?

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The Curious Case of a Historical Seed Collection

Written by Hideko Yamamoto (former Volunteer, Natural History Museum, London) with input from Jovita C. Yesilyurt (Senior Curator, General Herbarium, Natural History Museum, London).

For centuries, a quiet corner of the Natural History Museum has concealed a secret: a previously undocumented historical seed collection. Hidden in locked cabinets, hundreds of small paper packets hold botanical specimens—and unanswered questions. This article offers a glimpse into this overlooked collection, the detective work behind its investigation, and the exciting possibilities that still lie ahead. The mystery remains unsolved—for now.

A Vast Botanical Treasure

The Natural History Museum’s botany collection contains more than five million specimens gathered worldwide over 300 years. These range from herbarium sheets and carpological (fruit) collections to microscopic slides, wet specimens, and seeds (Fig. 1). Ideally, each specimen carries detailed scientific and historical information, allowing researchers to reconstruct past ecosystems, track species distributions, and study evolutionary and climate-related change over time.

Figure 1: Tray with one of the sets of the seed collections

Equally important is the historical context: who collected the specimen, under what circumstances, and how it entered the Museum. Such information brings collections to life, revealing the people, motivations, and networks behind scientific discovery. Yet many specimens lack this documentation. Among them are seed packets stored quietly in locked cabinets of the herbarium.

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An Inspired Approach to Tail Repair: The Conservation of an Arctic Fox Mount

Written by Madalyne Epperson, Assistant Conservator, Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM).

The Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM), located in downtown Milwaukee, is Wisconsin’s natural history museum. It opened to the public in 1884 and houses more than four million objects. The Museum is currently undertaking a multi-year effort to pack its extensive collections and relocate to a newly constructed building, due to open in 2027. I joined the MPM team in September 2025 to prepare roughly two thousand objects for display in the new building, which will be called the Nature & Culture Museum of Wisconsin. One of my first assignments was to stabilize a full body arctic fox and ptarmigan predation mount.

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The Life and Work of Botanist Catherine Muriel Rob – New Herbarium Exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum

Written by Anna Robson, Associate Collections Curator – Biology, York Museums Trust

A new foyer case exhibition titled ‘The Life and Work of Botanist Catherine ‘Kit’ Rob: An insider’s look at the Yorkshire Museum’s Herbarium’ is now on display at the Yorkshire Museum. This exhibition displays the herbarium in a new light, being one of the only times the museum has exhibited the dried plant specimens to the public. It is also a special exhibit of material from Kit’s personal paper archive which has been kindly loaned by the University of York’s Borthwick Institute for Archives.

The Yorkshire Museum’s herbaria contain thousands of specimens, with its origins in the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS) which was founded near 200 years ago. The YPS herbaria was first catalogued by Henry J. Wilkinson, Honorary Curator of Botany (1892 – 1933), and is still used as a reference guide by researchers interested in the museum’s herbarium and by curators.

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