Three different slide talks will be conducted by the Director of the Raffles Museum, A/P Peter Ng and Research Officer N. Sivasothi in the theme "Ancient texts and explorations: a treasure trove of secrets from the wild". These talks highlight some of the beautiful paintings and illustrations through interesting and amusing stories about Singapore's and Southeast Asia's natural history that were uncovered from old books in the Raffles Library Collection as well as first hand experiences from expeditions over the past two decades. All are welcome.

Mon 22nd April 2002
"Old paintings and news ideas - Personal examples from natural history explorations in Southeast Asia."
by A/Prof Peter Ng. Synopsis

Wed 24th April 2002
"The hunt for the Hairy-nosed otter",
by N. Sivasothi a.k.a. 'Otterman'. Synopsis

Friday 26th April 2002 **This talk has been cancelled**
"The times and trials of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research",
by N. Sivasothi. Synopsis

Public Talk 1. Monday 22nd April 2002: 7.30pm, NUS LT32
"Old paintings and news ideas - Personal examples for natural history explorations in Southeast Asia."
By A/Prof Peter Ng,
Director, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research,
Department of Biological Sciences, The National University of Singapore.

Students of natural history and modern biodiversity have long used paintings of plants and animals for their research. In fact, many classic paintings have been used by biologists to name new species. The compilation of paintings by Rumphius and Seba for example, have been used by many great men, notably Carolus Linnaeus, to name species, especially those from Asia and Americas which were not easy to visit in those days. Many fish species named by French scientists, for example, were actually based on clasical Chinese paintings!

Of course, biologists have also long used paintings and drawings to illustrate their scholarly articles. Even in the modern era of high-technology photography and advanced digital imagery, biologists still rely a great deal on "old-fashioned" drawings and sometimes even paintings to emphasise their discovery.

In this talk, I will bring you across time and highlight some interesting paintings and figures from the 1500s to the present which have helped (or exasperated) me in my study of animals, notably aquatic invertebrates and fish. Have these paintings advanced the cause of modern research? What problems have they caused? How have we solved them? How good were the old artists? What can modern biologists learn from their work?

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Public Talk 2: Wednesday 24th April 2002: 7.30pm, NUS LT32
"The hunt for the Hairy-nosed otter".
By N. Sivasothi, a.k.a. 'Otterman',
Member, IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group (Asian Section) & Editor, Asian Otter newsletter.

There I am, shivering in the early morning, and brown heads bob out of the sea. A family of otters swim energetically away. I get barely a glimpse and realise I could not tell the species! Clues from dusty books initially threw out more than 60 names for four species of otters, and it was time to sort it all out. Some investigation into nomenclature was needed and I shelved plans for ecology. Besides, it was too tiring chasing otters through bays in Malaysia!

Eventually the mess was sorted out for three of the species, but the trail of the Hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana) remained almost mythical. J. E. Gray's description from 1869 described a strangely (for an otter) paler colour to the upper lip and chin. I would eventually see examples in the Sarawak Museum and some time later, skulls of roadkills would emerge in Malaysia.

Years later, information sharing between scientists would lead to the rediscovery of this threatened endemic species of otter in Southeast Asia - a live otter cub was discoverd by hard-working forestry rangers in Thailand. The combined efforts of the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group would lead to the discovery of adults in the wild, and eventually reports would emerge from Cambodia and Vietnam.

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**This talk has been cancelled**

Public Talk No. 3: Friday 26th April 2002: 7.30pm, NUS LT32
"The times and trials of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research".
By N. Sivasothi,
Research Officer, Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research,
Department of Biological Sciences, The National University of Singapore.

This story chronicles the trials of the zoological collection of animals and books from the Raffles Library and Museum in Stamford Road. Surviving the ravages of war, a change in focus for the National Museum saw the collection wandering from place to place before finally establishing itself in the National University of Singapore. While it would become internationally famous as a research centre for Southeast Asian zoology, its locally existence was virtually unknown; only a vague memory of a whale skeleton remained in the minds of many!

Decades later, is beginning to revive its traditional role in public education, mirroring events, as it were, that happened at the turn of the last century! Learn about interesting and amusing stories and people that have peppered the colourful history of this museum and some of its current and future plans.

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