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SA SCIENCE LENS
CURRENT
The SA Science Lens is a unique competition in South Africa that
encourages amateur and professional photographers to enter images that
give insight into the world of science and technology and the working
of nature. The ‘SA Science Lens’ exhibition displays the winning
images from this year’s competition. The competition categories were
Science in action, Science close-up, Science as art,
On my plate (about the food we eat), and I see science and technology (submissions
entered by learners).
Dr Simon van Noort, Curator of Entomology at
Iziko, won this year’s ‘Science close-up’ category and was the overall
winner of this year’s competition.
The SA Science Lens competition is
organized by the South African Agency for Science and Technology
Advancement (SAASTA), a business unit of the National Research
Foundation (NRF).
AFRICAN DINOSAUR EXHIBITION: PHASE 1
CURRENT
The African Dinosaur Exhibition is still in development, but
elements of it are now on display. The main feature is the massive
skeleton of the sauropod dinosaur Jobaria, which was cast from
a fossil discovered in northern Niger by Dr Paul Sereno of the
University of Chicago. Also on show is the huge head of
Carcharodontosaurus, a close relative of Tyrannosaurus, and
the skull of the extinct crocodile Sarcosuchus.
The final phase of the African Dinosaur exhibition will open in
December 2008 and will include a complete overview of the evolution,
diversity and biology of African dinosaurs.
WONDERS OF NATURE
CURRENT
The exhibition comprises a selection of 20 objects highlighting the
beauty and diversity of natural forms across space and time. Amongst
others, fossilized freshwater fish from the Triassic period, ammonites
from the Jurassic, and the petrified skull of a 250- million-year-old
mammal-like reptile contrast starkly with the more recent antlers of a
moose, a whale skull and vertebra, the shell of a giant clam, a turtle
carapace and a piece of chalice coral. Older, and even more enduring,
are giant twinned quartz crystals from Namaqualand, and an iron
meteorite that may date back to the beginning of the Solar System.
FOSSIL STORIES
CURRENT
Diictodon, pictured here, is one of the ‘stars’ of the Fossil Stories
exhibition at the Iziko South African Museum. A small plant-eating
reptile from 250 million year-old Upper Permian rocks of the Karoo,
Diictodon lived close to rivers and streams that ran through the
ancient South African landscape at that time.
Two entwined skeletons of Diictodon are shown here. They were
discovered by Paul October during a field trip in the Nuweveld
Mountains behind Beaufort West. The specimens were complete enough for
detailed measurements and a reconstruction of the animal as it may
have appeared in life is shown here as well.
More is known about Diictodon than most other Karoo reptiles; its
footprints have been found in several localities, and spiral burrows,
preserved as corkscrew-like structures, contain fossil remains in the
underground chambers. This is probably where the animals lived while
avoiding extreme temperature conditions or carnivorous predators.
Nests of very young specimens have also been discovered, but no
evidence of eggs has been found.
Diictodon is almost unknown in other parts of the world. A single
specimen, from rocks of the same age as the South African ones, has
been found in central China, which was far removed from southern
Africa, even in remote Permian times. THE FIRST
LIVING COELACANTH
CURRENT
Iziko South African Museum has a beautiful, now iconic, cast of the
first living coelacanth discovered. This cast forms the centrepiece of
a new display that will include information on the coelacanth’s
evolutionary history, its biology – including its special features –
as well as audiovisual footage of live coelacanths. Fossilised remains
of these fish will also make up part of the exhibition.
STONE BONES OF THE ANCIENT KAROO
CURRENT
This exhibition has been 250 million years in the making. It
features the fossilised skeletons of long-extinct reptiles that ruled
the land areas of the world some 50 million years before the
dinosaurs. Highlights include five large fossilised skeletons of
mammal-like reptiles, supported by graphics portraying what they might
have looked like in the flesh. Two walk-round dioramas called
“Scavengers” and “Grubbers” feature finely sculpted life-sized models
of these animals in scenarios that have been reconstructed from the
actual fossils on display.
OUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE
CURRENT
A
display depicting a cosmic zoom to view the universe on an ever increasing
scale, reaching back to almost the very beginning of our universe.
METEORITES
CURRENT
An open display featuring three large iron meteorites.
THE BOONSTRA DIORAMAS
CURRENT
Evidence of life in the Karoo from 300 million years ago; dioramas of
ancient Karoo reptiles; fossil mammals of the Cape four million years
ago.
WHALE WELL
CURRENT
A unique collection of whale casts and skeletons, to be seen from
all floors; includes a 20.5 metre blue whale skeleton.
WHALES AND DOLPHINS
CURRENT
The whale and dolphin exhibit includes 16 casts of whales and
dolphins: Humpback Whale, Layard’s Beaked whale, Cuvier’s Beaked
Whale, Orca or Killer Whale, Sperm Whale, Pilot Whale, Humpback
Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin, Heaviside’s Dolphin, Common Dolphin,
Dusky Dolphin, Spotted Dolphin, Striped Dolphin, Fraser’s Dolphin,
Risso’s Dolphin and the Antarctic Dolphin.
SHARK WORLD
CURRENT
Shark World is one of the world's best and most comprehensive
exhibits on Chondrichthyians - the order of sharks, skates, rays and
chimeras - in the world. A key attraction is the life-size, 2+ meter
high model of the jaws of the Megatooth Shark, probably the largest
predator the world has ever known. An AV centre presents stunning
footage of sharks in their natural environments and deals with issues
round shark conservation.
WORLD OF WATER
CURRENT
Depicting life in our oceans. The Sunlit Sea exhibit shows a kelp
forest habitat and animals of the Open Ocean including a 4.9 m white
shark, a leatherback turtle and a broadbill swordfish. The latest
addition is a full sized model of a
Giant
Squid - Architeuthis, one of the most accurate models
available. We have one of the largest collections of giant squid
in the world.
SOUTHERN OCEANS
CURRENT
Animal life in the sub-Antarctic region.
MAMMALS
CURRENT
Mainly southern African mammals, including a foal of the extinct
quagga.
BIRDS
CURRENT
Southern African
and exotic birds, avian evolution, dioramas of waterbirds and seabirds.
NORFOLK ISLAND PINE
CURRENT
Noteworthy events during the lifetime
of this tree, planted about 1850 in the Public Gardens. Tree struck
by lightning, felled and removed 1939.
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