Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum
Introduction
When I was a NUS student, the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) did not yet exist then. Instead, one of the science blocks housed the "Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research". I believe that the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research consisted of a few floors, but only one floor was open to visitors.
I remembered attending tours, and also spending quite a fair bit of time looking at a number of their specimens. The LKCNHM is really much larger, and is a really nice museum. I enjoy bringing my students there for learning journeys.
The three sauropod dinosaur fossils are real fossils. One of the ways I was told that you can tell if it is a real fossil on display is the presence of the supporting cables. Real fossils are extremely heavy, and require additional support.
If you look closely at the photos above, the necks and other parts of the sauropod fossils are held in position by these cables. Casts of fossils tend to be made of lighter materials and do not require such supports.
The famous "Singapore Whale" skeleton is on display at LKCNHM. The dead sperm whale was found along Singapore waters, and it is believed that it died when it collided with a ship resulting in damage to one of its vertebrate (the highlighted one shown).
The analysis of the stomach contents of the whale showed that in addition to squid beaks (mouth part of the squid that is not digestible), there were large amounts of plastics found in the stomach. This is a reminder of how plastics have a far reaching impact even on marine life.
An interesting Straits Times article more on the whale can be read here.
A paper was published going into detail of the diet and mitochondrial DNA of the sperm whale can be read here.
Being a natural history museum, it houses and displays many different specimens (even some from the time of Sir Stamford Raffles).