STORY (^) JASMINE TEO
the iguanodon. Owen was studying this particular
specimen when he came up with the name ‘dinosaur’,
which means terrible lizard. They’d thought that
[dinosaurs] were huge lizard-like creatures. It’s not a
beautiful specimen, but it’s really important.”
Treasures of the Natural World is on now till Apr 29, 2018, at
ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands (6 Bayfront Ave), 10am
to 7pm (last admission at 6pm). For tix and more info, go to
http://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/treasure.html.
There’s a dark story behind this
sparkly gem. “[The purple gem] is called
the cursed amethyst ’cos its owner [from
a couple of hundred years ago] believed
it was cursed. Every time he tried to get
rid of it, it would find its way back to him.
He finally donated it to the NHM and warned that
because it was cursed, it should only be opened [from
the seven layers of protective boxes he’d cased it in]
after his death.”
This
extinct
lion’s
skull has
a history
with
one of London’s
most famous tourist
spots. “This Barbary
lion skull was found in
the moat of the Tower
of London [in 1937].
It’s over 600 years
old and comes from
the royal menagerie
— they had a royal
zoo then, and it was the starting point for the London
Zoo. This is the symbol of England — the royal beast,
the lion. It was a gift to the king. The Barbary lion
[formerly found in northern Africa] is actually extinct in
the wild now, and this is all we have left of it.”
singke
(singke)
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