tag:peatix.com,2011:1 2021-11-15T10:16:24+08:00 Peatix National Museum tag:peatix.com,2019:event-652514 2019-05-18T14:00:00SGT 2019-05-18T14:00:00SGT

HistoriaSG:A Tale of Thomases and Tapirs: Early Natural History in Singapore and Nearby LandsSpeaker: Martyn E. Y. Low Three Thomases – Hardwicke, Horsfield and Raffles – have arguably made the earliest contributions to natural history in Singapore. Directly or indirectly, they have been responsible for introducing the first mammals, birds, plants, reptiles and fishes from Singapore to the West. But beyond just “collecting” species and specimens, how did these three men, and others like them, contribute to the larger understanding of nature and natural history in Singapore and beyond?The story of the Malayan Tapir offers a “cheat sheet” to the development of this rich natural history that began long before any of the Thomases stepped ashore in Singapore. This riveting tale involves an emperor, eunuchs, a fleet of treasure ships, four Frenchmen, a Dutchman with a Chinese name, an English civil servant, and of course, several tapirs.About the Speaker Martyn E. Y. Low is research associate at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (which currently holds the zoological collection of the former Raffles Museum). His research interests encompass a range of topics related to natural history: voyages of scientific discovery, the discovery of species, zoological nomenclature and the bibliography of natural history. He is a researcher and writer for the upcoming Bicentennial exhibition, “200: a natural history” at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.