Natural History Museum

Five different species of Eimeria viz. E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. necatrix, E. tenella and E. brunetti were identified. The highest percentage (50%) was found with mixed infection. Specieswise infection with E. tenella was recorded in the present study. Monthwise highest prevalence ...

The book describes the events in the 100 years after the fall of the meteorite near the Avče village in the Soča Valley.
The expert monograph on the first Slovene meteorite acquaints us with meteorites in general and specifically with the fall of the iron-nickel meteorite near the Avče village in the Soča Valley (western Slovenia) on March 31st 1908, and its subsequent history until 2008.
The Avče meteorite was almost completely forgotten in Slovenia until 2007. The authors nevertheless succeeded in gathering in a relatively short time a surprisingly rich collection of texts and illustrations.
This meteorite was mentioned in only three Slovene publications in the 100 years since its fall in 1908: in a textbook by Leopold Poljanec a professor in Maribor (Mineralogy and Geology, Celovec 1909), in an article by Rajko Pavlovec On the meteorites in our country (Življenje in tehnika 12, 1962, p. 392) and in an article by Milan Ilić entitled Thousand pieces fallen from the space (Delo 43, 2001, no. 134, p. 12).
Especially valuable are the numerous newspaper notices from April 1908, completely unknown until now, and the testimonies of the locals.
Thanks to the testimony of the grandson of the owner of the land parcel where the meteorite fell, the exact place of its fall is known, which is only a half hour walk from the village.
The wrong coordinates still appear in the Meteoritical Bulletin Database, which mark a site near the Neblo village in Goriška Brda on the right bank of the Soča river as the place of the fall (http://tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php).
Both articles on the Avče meteorite, written in German by Friedrich Martin Berwerth, the director of the Mineralogical-Petrographic Department of the Natural History Museum in Vienna, and published in 1908 (Über den Niederfall eines Eisenmeteoriten bei Avče im Isonzotale) and in 1909 (Ein österreichisches Meteoreisen), are reproduced and translated into Slovene, as is the chapter in V. F. Buchwald's Handbook of iron meteorites (1975: Avče, Slovenia, Yugoslavia).
The bibliography shows that in the long period from 1908 to 2007, the Avče meteorite was mentioned or presented in 28 bibliographic units, published almost entirely outside Slovenia, and in the years 2007 and 2008 it was mentioned in 24 bibliographic units, published almost entirely in Slovenia.

The concept of ’natural heritage’ has become increasingly significant with the threat of dwindling resources, environmental degradation and climatic change. As humanity’s impact on the condition of life on earth has become more prominent, a discernible shift in the relationship between western society and the environment has taken place. This is reflective of wider historical processes which reveal a constantly changing association between humanity’s definition and perception of what ’nature’ constitutes or what can be defined as ’natural’. From the ornate collections of specimens which formed the basis of a distinct concept of ’nature’ emerging during the Enlightenment, this definition and the wider relationship between humanity and natural history have reflected issues of identity, place and politics in the modern era.

This book examines this process and focuses on the ideas, values and agendas that have defined the representation and reception of the history of the natural world, including geology and palaeontology, within contemporary society and addresses how the heritage of natural history, whether through museums, parks, tourist sites or popular culture is used to shape social, political, cultural and moral identities. It will be of interest to scholars and practitioners within heritage studies, public history, ecology, environmental studies and geography.

This paper deals with the contribution of botanists of Natural History Museum,Tribhuvan University, Nepal in the field of plant research and education. Of the 14 listed, only two botanists are continuing their service in the museum. Their research works mainly focused on collection and exploration of flora, supervision of dissertation including publication of 171 articles in different journals of national and international repute. Apart from this, their contributions in education/training by organizing seminars/trainings/workshops are highly significant.J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 29, 2015, Page: 122-147

"Natural history collections, are among others, used for studies in biochemistry, genetics and ecology. Avoidance of the use of chemical substances is necessary to avoid loss or modification of the structure, chemical and genetic components of the specimens that reduce their scientific value and stability. The practice of preventive conservation is imperative, for the slowdown of chemical, mechanical and biological damage.
In natural history collections of fossils, minerals, rocks, stuffed animals and birds, animal tissues in ethanol, dried plants bottles etc,  damages observed include pyrite disease, delaminations, oxidations, discolourations, cracks, photomechanical and plastic damage. To avoid damage, it is necessary to control environmental parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, radiation and pollutants, provide proper storage condition and perform regular recording of the collections.
Preventive conservation becomes a real challenge in the case of fossil-bearing areas. Conservators are invited to in situ protect the objects from extreme weather variations and anthropogenic disasters. "

Starting from Haraway's theories on Akeley's Hall of African Mammals and ending up at the NHM in London. Looking at how taxidermy is employed to represent nature and the way museums are reacting to shifting public perceptions. This is a research project, hence the focus on methodology.

What curatorial gesture would make it possible to give rise to a temporary museum in situ where anthropogenic inscriptions could be presented by the living exhibits themselves? In this article the past of the Anthropocene is defined as a time of intensified activity of Homo sapiens in the early Holocene, before our impact on the hydrosphere, geosphere and atmosphere became irreversible. The author ponders whether the current definition of a natural history museum can incorporate a project of a living, embodied, post-anthropocentric and post-institutional museum. She suggests plants as essential partners in the human becoming across the biosphere. Chlorophyll organisms initiated the Great Oxidation Event, or Oxygen Catastrophe, which led not only to the extinction of anaerobic organisms but also to the proliferation of oxygen-dependent life, including humans. The human-plant co-existence is studied through the consequences of the ‘desire for sunlight’ of the former and the ‘desire for mobility’ of the latter. Synanthropic plants, which thrive growing next to people, emerge as the protagonists of this story, with the shared interspecies history and anthropogenic mutations inscribed in their bodies. This is a story of the human–plant co-evolution where contemporary, ‘spontaneous’ synanthropic plants are depicted as agents. In this context the author describes the artistic practices of Andrea Haenggi, analysing them as curatorial gestures for an interspecies dialogue within the framework of a ‘museum setting’.

This paper highlights the one of the underappreciated natural resource of NTFPs, has high food and medicinal values. The area embraces different mycophagus ethnic communities. The work emphasized the knowledge on the use of various ways of the wild mushrooms in the different ethnic groups and communities in habiting in the district and to explore in the study area. This mycological investigation carried out in different area ranging between 90 and 1229 m asl in tropical deciduous riverine forest, to subtropical deciduous hill forest. The specimens are housed in the Central Department of Botany, Pathology Unit, Tribhuvan University. The collected samples represented 46 species of Basidiomycetes belongs to 32 genera, 20 families and 9 order. The mycoelements prevailing in this area need sustainable utilization and conservation. J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 29, 2015, Page: 19-31

Sindhupalchok is one of the largest districts of central Nepal with area occupancy of about 2542 km². The northern side of this district exhibits complex physical feature where this study was carried out within the elevation of 850m to 4300m. The changing elevation gradients along mountain habitats act to control the distribution of butterflies at its ascending range. This study made on different periods in 2009 and 2012 brought a list of 114 species of butterflies from three different destinations of the northern side that included areas like Melamchi, Timbu (central-northern), Helambu (northern) Nakote (north-western) Panch Pokhari and adjoining region (north-eastern). The diversity of butterflies declined gradually above 3500m towards Panch Pokhari whereas species richness was noticed high at 900-2700 m from Melamchi to Helambu route including Nakote, Shermathan and Tarkyghyang. Ecotourism promotional activity can also be linked to the butterfly watch that includes rare and attra...

Melanitis leda, a shade loving Satyrid is distributed in tropical to temperate parts of the country. Wet Season Form of this butterfly displays paler wings, prominent eyespots and distinct under wing markings. Dry Season Form remains camouflaged with dry leaf litters mostly in undisturbed parts of the forest floor. This form has diminished eyespots with varying underwing markings. The gradient effect varies location wise which can be assumed to develop different phenotypic forms in this species. Nine such forms of Melanitis leda included in this study were recorded from different forest types of Nepal.

This essay provides an overview of the Natural History Museum (nhm) in London, United Kingdom, between the late 1960s and early 1980s, in order to explore how it changed both its institutional identity as well as its exhibition policy during this period. It intends to demonstrate that, in 6order to alter its image, the museographic discourse of the nhm stopped focusing on its collection —that is, the natural history specimens— to instead concentrate on the visitors and pay particular attention to the new approach of contemporary biology. To this end, it is posed that Human Biology, the first exhibition of the New Exhibition Program (nep), was designed in accordance with the reductionist tendencies that characterized contemporary science, structured around the information systems. Hence, through visual metaphors and interactive strategies, Human Biology became a production and legitimization space for a particular scientific point of view, which was very close to that exposed by the external advisers who collaborated in the specification of its museographic contents.

Floristic diversity is studied based on gender in two different management committee community forests (Barangdi-Kohal jointly managed community forest and Bansa-Gopal women managed community forest) of Palpa district, west Nepal. Square plot of 10m×10m size quadrat were laid for covering all forest areas and maintained minimum 40m distance between two quadrats. Altogether 68 plots (34 in each forest) were sampled. Both community forests had nearly same altitudinal range, aspect and slope but differed in different environmental variables and members of management committees. All the species present in quadrate and as well as outside the quadrate were recorded for analysis. There were 213 species of flowering plant belonging to 67 families and 182 genera. Barangdi-Kohal JM community forest had high species richness i.e. 176 species belonging to 64 families and 150 genera as compared to Bansa-Gopal WM community forest with 143 species belonging to 56 families and 129 genera. According...

Sindhupalchok is one of the largest districts of central Nepal with area occupancy of about 2542 km². The northern side of this district exhibits complex physical feature where this study was carried out within the elevation of 850m to 4300m. The changing elevation gradients along mountain habitats act to control the distribution of butterflies at its ascending range. This study made on different periods in 2009 and 2012 brought a list of 114 species of butterflies from three different destinations of the northern side that included areas like Melamchi, Timbu (central-northern), Helambu (northern) Nakote (north-western) Panch Pokhari and adjoining region (north-eastern). The diversity of butterflies declined gradually above 3500m towards Panch Pokhari whereas species richness was noticed high at 900-2700 m from Melamchi to Helambu route including Nakote, Shermathan and Tarkyghyang. Ecotourism promotional activity can also be linked to the butterfly watch that includes rare and attra...

Management of Zoo wastes has been increasing problem in urban areas. The major part of the Zoo waste is organic material contributing from animal dungs, garbage and litter which can be converted into fertile compost. We used the vermicomposting techniques for converting the elephant dung, rhino dung, garbage and litter into compost in relatively short time compared to traditional method of composting. The physico-chemical and microbiological parameters of thus prepared compost were tested adopting standard scientific methods. The analysis showed that pH, organic matter content, moisture content, nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and (Carbon:Nitrogen) C: N value are appropriate for utilizing in the farming. Thus vermicomposting is one of the viable options for converting huge amount of organic waste into high quality compost effectively. J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 27, 2013: 92-106

Protocol based fruit fly surveillance made in 2014-15 in citrus orchards in Sindhuli district revealed six species of Bactrocera flies, namely Bactrocera minax (Enderlein), B. cucurbitaeCoquillett, B. dorsalis (Hendel), B. zonata (Saunders), B. tau Walker and B. scutellaris (Bezzi),and one species of Dacus longicornis Weidman. Except B. minax, other fruit flies we recollected in male lure traps, while B. minax fruit flies were also reared to adults from infested sweet oranges. Each species of fruit flies has been morphologically identified up to species level for field identification purpose. D. longicornis is reported for the first time from Nepal.

This paper is an outcome of the studies made in four districts (Dangdeukhuri, Banke, Bardia and Surkhet) of western Terai in different months of various years. Altogether 85 species categorized into 64 genera and 10 families have been reported with their status categories based on national status list. The process of urbanization has altered valuable natural habitats of many of the rare species especially in Banke and Dangdeukhuri districts. Monitoring process under the established regulation and thorough investigations in many unexplored areas of this region have been felt essential so to design suitable conservation measures to butterflies of this region.Key words: Biodiversity; western terai; butterflies; unexplored; habitatsJournal of Natural History Museum Vol. 23, 2008 Page 92-97

Present study analyzed indigenous uses of medicinal plants and their informant consensus factor. Uses of Berberis asiatica for eye troubles with 1.0 consensus factor, Asparagus racemosus for galactogogue, Cordyceps sinensis as tonic and longetivity, Nardostachys grandiflora for eplilepsy and Phyllanthus emblica as diuretic with 0.97 each were highest consensus factor values and these species showed the greatest affinity to the common uses of Ayurveda and phytochemical findings. Highest informant consensus ...

The aim of this study was to assess the anthropogenic impacts on the vegetation structure and regeneration of dominant tree species in the community managed mixed broadleaved forests of the Sargamatha (Everest) National Park buffer zone area. The forest plots were categorized into disturbed and semi-disturbed considering the scale of anthropogenic disturbances such as percentage of biomass extraction, lopping, tramping coverage and grazing intensity. For each forest type, three radii (10 m, 5 m and 2.5 m) plots were laid for sampling trees, sapling and seedling layers, respectively. In both the forest sites, Quercus semecarpifolia and Rhododendron arboreum were the main dominant tree species. The distribution of Q. semecarpifolia and R. arboreum along with diameter classes showed high stem density mainly concentrated in 2-15 cm diameter class. In both sites, the density of R. arboreum showed increment from sapling to seedling stage, while no seedling of Q. semecarpifolia was recorde...

The paper presents an analytical review of focal animal species as those that are important in sharing natural history knowledge and in the development of environmental initiatives. A detailed analysis of the history and experience of using such animals in the practice of education and museology in the world and in Ukraine is presented. Among the most famous areas of the topic are as follows: 1) attention to wild animals versus attention to domestic ones, 2) formation of a pool of zoo-mascots for different activities and increase the ranking of such species or groups of species, 3) development of zoosymbolism in all forms of activities related to nature (scientific societies, publications, schools-seminars, natural history museums), 4) formation and development of the idea of years of animals (mammal of the year, bird of the year, insect of the year), and 5) formation, share, and development of ideas of special days (bat night, lark day, etc.). The analysis of world and Ukrainian ex...

Initial assessment of cost and benefit aspect to the community managed forest for biodiversity conservation was conducted in Baghmara Community Forest at central lowland Nepal. Wildlife was being colonizing and forest was in early succession stage. The area was potential habitat for large wildlife too. Cost-benefit analysis indicated more cost than benefit during the initial stage. Eco-tourism was initiated after a few conservation management efforts in the area that resulted the numbers of tourist influx which will be on profit in near future. J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 26, 2012: 163-174

Nine species of terrestrial molluscs were collected at eastern, mid western and far western regions of Nepal. The documented molluscan samples are represented with 4 families under three orders. Out of the total record of nine species, four species belonged to the family Ariophantidae, three species to Subulinidae, one species to Bradybaenidae and one to Veronicellidae.Key Words: Molluscs; Nepal; record; species; terrestrialJournal of Natural History Museum Vol. 23, 2008 Page 78-81

Ant diversity was studied in Muhan Pokhari area of Shivapuri-Nagarjun National Park (SNNP)at 1,700 m to 1,900 m asl during winter and summer seasons of 2017. Ants were collected using pitfall traps, leaf litter sampling, bait and hand collection methods along a transect of50 m in each of all 5 sites (1,700 m, 1,750 m, 1,800 m, 1,850 m and 1,900 m). Altogether 817individual ants were collected representing 5 sub-families, 16 genera and 23 morpho species. Formicinae (57.67%) was the most abundant sub-family, followed by Myrmicinae (40.39%), Pseudomyrmicinae (0.8%), Ponerinae (0.73%) and Dolichoderinae (0.37%). Camponotus (437individuals) was the most abundant genus followed by Aphaenogaster (287). Species richness was higher in winter (17 morph species) than in spring (14 morph species). Shannon-Wiener diversity index (1.4618) and Evenness index (0.5539) were higher in spring season. Pitfall trap method was found most effective with highest number of individual ants (567) and of 21 sp...

Asparagus racemosus Willd. is an important medicinal plant of tropical and subtropical regions of Nepal and India. Its medicinal usage has been reported in the Indian and British Pharmacopoeias and in traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda, Unani, and Siddha. Asparagus curillus Buch-Ham.ex Roxb. is also one of the species found in higher altitude of Nepal. Its roots are used as substitute for A. racemosus. Phytochemical investigation was done for these two species of Nepalese Asparagus as per Methodology for Analysis of Vegetable Drugs by I. Ciulei.1982. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of coumarin, flavonoid, catecholic tannin, reducing compound in alcoholic extract of A. racemosus while its aqueous extract revealed polyuronoid, reducing compound, polyoses, saponin, gallic tannin, catecholic tannin, etc. Similarly, alcoholic extract of A. curillus revealed catecholic tannin, reducing compound and aqueous extract revealed polyuronoid polyoses, saponin, gallic ...

Bryophytes in Mai Pokhari area of Ilam District, east Nepal was studied in September 2013 to investigate species diversity and status. A total of 42 bryophytes were compiled occurrence status. Plagiochila exigua (Taylor) Taylor, Dicranella setifera (Mitt.) A. Jaeger, Trematodonkurzii Hampe ex Gangulee and Pseudobarbella niitakayamensis Nog. recorded in this study are new additions to Nepal. Wet and damp areas around this lake are suitable habitats for thesporophytic growth of man+y bryophyte species.

Chandragiri Mountain forest in Kathmandu borders Makwanpur district to the west was least known for bryophytes till this study was conducted. This mountain forest with varying elevation ranges from 1365 to 2300 m offered different habitat types for diverse bryofloral species which included 58 species of 39 genera categorized under 27 families and nine orders. Of the recorded species 18 species were rare and five new records to country’s list. Sauteria spongiosa (Kashyap) S. Hatt., a rare moss species was not recorded in this study though was reported for the fi rst time at 2250 m of this mountain in 1982. The habitat of this moss has completely been destroyed now due to expansion of the road in this part.J. Nat. Hist. Mus. Vol. 28, 2014: 81-92

Antibacterial activities of Xanthium strumarium L. (Asteraceae) was carried out in laboratory. Distilled water and methanol extracts of the leaves of plant was prepared. The antibacterial activity was studied against six pathogenic bacteria, three gram negative: Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 15380), Proteus mirabilis (ATCC 49132), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and three gram positive: Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC 29212), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25932) at different concentrations (50 mg/ml, 100 mg/ml, 150 mg/ml, 200 mg/ ml, 250 mg/ml) of leaf extracts of X. strumurium. The phytochemical screening depicted the presence of terpenoids, saponins, flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids. The antibacterial activity of extracts was determined by disc diffusion method and zone of inhibition (ZOI) was measured. Gram negative bacteria was found more resistant than gram positive bacteria. The most susceptible bacterium was S. aureus while the most resistant bacterium w...

Forests are the integral to the global carbon cycle. These ecosystems sequester carbon in the plant biomass and in the soil. The study was carried out in Linga Guthi Community Forest of Bhaktapur to estimate carbon Stock and radial growth of Pinus roxburghii through tree ring analysis. A total of 32 circular plots of 250 m2 area were laid down randomly. Subplots were made for study of saplings, Litter, herbs and soil. For tree ring analysis, tree core samples were collected from different blocks of forest. Ring widths were measured using TSAP-Win Software attached to a LINTAB measuring system. For tree ring analysis, COFECHA and ARSTAN program were used. The average carbon stock of Linga Guthi Community Forest was 272.22±17.36 t/ha. Similarly, it has storage of 206.87± 4.47 t/ha AGTC, 41.37±2.19 t/ha BGTC, 23.814±1.00 t/ha SOC. The carbon sequestration rate of the forest was 2.22 Ct/ha/year. The average radial growth of pine trees in the forest was found to be 2.06 ± 0.13 mm/year. T...

ABSTRACT A total of 495 stool samples from the school children aged 9-12 years from Bhaktapur were examined for helminth parasites by direct smear method. Out of 495 children, 137 (27.68%) were found positive for one or more intestinal helminthic parasites. Ascaris lumbricoides (22.63%) showed highest prevalence rate followed by Trichuris trichiura (6.06%), Strongyloides stercoralis (1.82%), Hookworm (1.62%), Taenia sp. (1.01%), Hymenolepis nana (0.81%) and Enterobius vermicularis (0.40%). The helminthic infection was found to be almost equal in male and female children and statistically no signifi cant difference was found (χ2 = 8.31×10-6, p>0.05). Higher percentages of students were infected with single parasites than double and multiple infections. All 137 positive cases were treated with single oral dose of 400 mg albendazole. Post-treatment stool samples were collected four weeks after treatment to determine the cure rate. Stool samples were again collected 24 weeks post-tre...

Panchase Protected Forest (PPF), situated at the junction of three districts Kaski, Syangjaand Parbat with an elevation range of 900-2517m representing mid hills of Nepal. This study was carried out with an aim of documenting the flowering plant diversity of the Panchase Protected Forest, Kaski district, comprising three VDCs, Bhadaure Tamage, Chapakot and Pumdi Bhumdi. General survey, covering all seasons was organized (from June 2014 to May2015) for collecting the plant species. Published literatures and herbarium specimens were also consulted for documenting the species. Identification of the collected specimens was made through consulting relevant literatures, herbarium specimens and expert consultation. A total of 613 species belonging to 393 genera and 111 families have been documented from this area. The dominant family was Orchidaceae (49 genera and 125 species) followed by Poaceae (25 spp.), Asteraceae (25 spp.) and others. Six endemic plants, Begonia flagellaris (Begoniace...

Teinopalpus imperialis an endangered swallowtail butterfly of high conservation value is encompassed into the Appendix II of CITES (Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species). This butterfly prefers its habitat at the altitudinal range of 2180 - 3000 m and emerges out for a brief period in summer months of May till July first week annually. This target species dwells in the broad leaved evergreen and mixed forest of Oaks (Quercus spp.). This specific work made an extensive study of Teinopalpus imperialis with respect to its population status, associated habitats and prevailing threats in Phulchoki Mountain (Lalitpur District), Nagarjun –Shivapuri National Park (Kathmandu District) and Nagarkot Mountain (Bhaktapur District). This revealed out the occurrence of 21 individual populations of this butterflyin the Phulchoki Mountain and 8 individuals in the Nagarjun forest. Nagarkot of Bhaktapur district did not represent any of this species due to prevailing high impact on ...

The study was carried out to evaluate the allelopathic effect of aqueous extract of rhizome and leaves of Costus speciosus Koen ex. Retz and Justicia adhatoda Linn. respectively on germination and growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum Linn.) and pea (Pisum sativum Linn.). Effect was assessed by recording their effects on germination and percentage growth of root and hypocotyle of test plants. However, the extent of inhibitory and stimulatory effect of extracts varied with the plant species. The extract reduced the germination of the test seeds. However, root and hypocotyle elongations of wheat and pea seedlings were significantly inhibited by the extract of studied plant parts, with the percentage of inhibition increased as the concentration of the extract increased. The observed allelopathic activity of the extract of both medicinal plants on the seed germination and seedling growth of wheat and pea was attributed to the presence of the allelopathic phytochemicals in medicinal plants....