Full description
TMAG's Vertebrate Zoology collection of over 26,000 specimens represents the diversity of the state's fauna. This includes important type specimens, historical taxidermy and rare and extinct animals such as the thylacine (the Tasmanian Tiger) and Tasmanian emu. The animals in the collections are derived from individual and institutional donations, as well as from the Zoology Unit’s own collecting trips and systematic surveys from around Tasmania, for instance through participation in Bush Blitz. The collections are housed in dedicated buildings at the museum’s Collections and Research facility at Rosny, near Hobart. These comprise climate-controlled spirit and dry storage areas, freezers for tissue storage, laboratories and preparation rooms. Birds and mammals are represented with study-skins, mounted specimens, eggs, embryos and skeletons . The Vertebrate Zoology Unit has also begun assembling a collection of tissue samples from vertebrate animals, including stranded whales, to provide vouchers for DNA sequencing. The collections are not normally open to the public, but can be accessed by appointment. Identifiers
