Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, NUS

(Text from http://courseware.nus.edu.sg/NaturalHeritage/ )

RAFFLES MUSEUM OF BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH (INTRODUCTION TO THE NATURAL HISTORY AND HABITATS OF SINGAPORE)

About this Habitat

In this module, the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) is treated as a “habitat” because it is a part of the natural heritage of Singapore, though it is not a “natural habitat” as such. The museum is a research centre for biodiversity of Singapore and Southeast Asia. It houses reference specimens collected in Singapore (and elsewhere in the region), throughout the >150 years of the museum’s history.

RMBR has its origins in the Raffles Museum which was founded in 1849 and renamed the National Museum in 1961. That museum comprised of several components, including the natural history collection (zoological collection) which, in 1972, was moved to the National University of Singapore (then the University of Singapore). It was at that time known as the Zoological Reference Collection (ZRC). In 1987, ZRC was enlarged with other zoological collections from the former University of Singapore and Nanyang University. The collection in ZRC was also enriched by the donations and contributions of research staff, plus many students and foreign scientists, etc.

On 1 October 1988, the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research was officially established to house the Zoological Reference Collection, the University Herbarium, the Culture Collection, as well as an Exhibition Gallery. RMBR operates not only as the home of extensive animal and plant collections but also as the base for academic activities (biodiversity research by staff, lecturers, postgraduate researchers of the Department of Biological Sciences, and many visiting/foreign scientists), and for public education in environmental and natural conservation.

The Exhibition Gallery, officially launched in June 2001, is designed for exhibition and education purposes - this is the part of the RMBR that is accessible to the general public. The Exhibition Gallery features the biodiversity of the Southeast Asian region, especially Singapore. Specimens of several animal species which were already extinct in Singapore are on display here. Some other display items are of very rare species which you only have a very small chance to see in Singapore nowadays. Some exhibits present more common species, although a number of them are difficult to observe in nature due to their secret habitat or behaviour. The Exhibition Gallery is therfeore a good chance for you to see how rich the biodiversity of Singapore used to be, and still is.