Grant funding helping preserve a rare collection of skeletons at Flinders University
Collection Manager of the Flinders University Vertebrate Collection (FUVC), Lisa Nink holding the skull of an Australian fur seal (left) and Euro Kangaroo (right). (Photo credit: Diana Fusco).
Flinders University palaeontologists have been awarded nearly $20,000 from the federally funded Community Heritage Grant to support the first stage of rehousing and preserving the highly significant Flinders University Vertebrate Collection (FUVC).
Collection Manager of the FUVC, Miss Lisa Nink, describes the FUVC as an “Aladdin’s cave” of rare and fascinating specimens including a big hairy Armadillo skeleton from Argentina, bones of the extinct white-footed rabbit rat from the Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area and a beautiful male and female pair of white-capped albatross skeletons found together on Kangaroo Island.
“Natural history collections are invaluable resources for studying our natural world. They act as time capsules, preserving data that can help us understand the past and future of life on earth” says Miss Nink, who is also a PhD candidate in the palaeontology research group at Flinders University. “As palaeontologists, we rely on modern skeletons to compare with fossils to learn what extinct species ate, how they moved and how they evolved through time.”
Though natural history collections were found in many Australian universities during the 19th and early 20th centuries, most have since been lost, sold, or remain only as legacy collections. The FUVC is a rare exception. Founded in the 1980s as a small teaching and research collection, it now contains over 1,500 skulls and skeletons representing more than 200 species of bird, reptile, amphibian, fish and mammal and is still growing. Each skeleton represents hours of dedicated work, mainly by volunteers, to carefully prepare out and clean the skeleton, label each bone and place it in a box before it is formally registered into the collection.
“Preparing a skeleton can take several months”, explains Jacob Blokland, a fellow PhD student in palaeontology at Flinders University who has prepared more than fifty skeletons for the FUVC. “Most skeletons are prepared through a process called cold water maceration, because it is gentle on the bones and convenient in terms of time and resources. After measuring, examining and recording important information for the specimen, we soak it in water to remove most of the flesh. Each bone is then carefully cleaned, dried and sterilised before the skeleton is accessioned into the collection.”
But preparing, preserving and storing a collection of rare and fragile skeletons is expensive. According to Miss Nink:
“The FUVC receives no permanent funding and is entirely volunteer run, so we are extremely grateful to receive a Community Heritage Grant. The money will enable us to purchase the specialised storage boxes and other materials we need to properly care for and preserve the FUVC for future generations.”
Unlike most natural history collections in museums where access is usually restricted to a select few, the FUVC is accessible to anyone via appointment.
“Whether you are a researcher, an artist, or you want to find out what that strange bone you found on the beach is, we’d love to hear from you.”
To find out more about the FUVC visit: https://sites.flinders.edu.au/palaeontology/home/vertebrate-collection/
The Community Heritage Grant program is funded by the Australian Government through the National Library of Australia, Department of Communications and the Arts, National Archives of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive and National Museum of Australia and managed by the National Library of Australia.