Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum

It was a rainy Saturday morning and we decided to pay the newly opened Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) a visit.  We read that we need to buy the tickets in advance from  SISTIC and each visit will only be 1.5 hours.  Since it was a rainy Saturday morning, we decided to give it a try by just going down without buying any tickets in advance.

LKCNHM inherited the natural history collection from its predecessor, the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) (established in 1998), whose collection was that of the Zoological Reference Collection (ZRC) which stems from the original Raffles Museum that was renamed the National Museum of Singapore in 1965.

The main gallery consists of 15 zones, tracing the history of life on earth. Different sections are devoted to the origin of life and all major branches of the Tree of Life. This includes green plants, fungi, molluscs, arthropods, “fish”, amphibians, “reptiles”, birds, and mammals. Other sections are dedicated to demonstrating how terrestrial vertebrates evolved from “fish” and why birds are actually “dinosaurs.” 

 The museum houses over a million specimens which preserves records of Southeast Asian biodiversity.

The museum souvenir shop

LKCNHM is also home to the three much raved diplodocid sauropod skeletons, nicknamed “Prince”, “Apollonia” and “Twinky”. Each of them is about 80% complete, making them a rarity in dinosaur discoveries. Even more rare is that two of these skeletons come with skulls – a rarity as far as sauropod dinosaurs fossils are concerned! These three skeletons were found between 2007 and 2010 in a quarry in a small town of Ten Sleep in the United States and are believed to be part of a herd or even a family. These dinosaurs are the main attraction of the main gallery, showcasing the diversity and history of life on Earth. As one of the largest animals ever to live on the planet, they are an excellent showpiece to demonstrate extinction events and how life has evolved.

Looks like we are in luck - there is no queue!

Entering the museum, you will first learn about how all life on earth comes from the sun and plants.  It showcases the tree of life and the diversity of plant life on earth.

Replica of the Rafflesia flower - largest flower on earth

This is a replica of the Titan Arum.  It has the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, reaching over 3 metres in height.  It blooms at night, releasing an odour of rotting meat that attracts carrion-eating beetles and flesh flies to pollinate it.  It usually weighs around 50kg.

Here is a display of carnivorous plants.

 There is an exhibition on trees.

The Changi Tree

 The 'Chengal Pasir' tree, that Changi was probably named after, was thought to be locally extinct until 2002.  A lone specimen of 35 metres tall and around 150 years old was discovered.  It was felled illegally by a developer in 2002.

An exhibition on fungi.

Dinosaurs and the extinct dodo bird.

Dinosaur bone

The evolution of life - how does nature does it selection?

Towards animals:

Sea mouse - this caught my attention.

The sea mouse was named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.  It's a segmented worm with spines or setae that reflect light.

 A section on reptiles:

The section on mammals is probably the most interesting for the little lion dancer.  He has an enjoyable time identifying the different species.

 

Skull of an elephant..you can touch it to feel it.

Look at how the skulls of homo sapiens have evolved over the ages!

Skeleton of a human and an orang utan

Tropical Rainforest:

Birds:

Arthropods:

Japanese spider crab

The crab on the bottom left is the Mosaic Reef crab which is the most poisonous crab known.  One crab has enough nerve toxins to kill over 40,000 mice.  The one on the top right is the Tasmanian crab, one of the largest in the world.

Going up to Level 1M, which showcases how Singapore's landscape and study of biodiversity has evolved over the years.  Delve into the past and discover the museum's history and Singapore's geology.

Raffles' collection

Water to Land:

The marine section:

The orange spotted grouper was part of the original collection of 'dried' fish from the Raffles Museum prior to 1950s.

 

Finally, after 2.5 hours, we had completed the visit.  By now, the little lion dancer is tired from learning all the new animals and must have repeated "I want to go home"  10 times over.  I thought it would be better if there could be an area for rest and snacks before allowing visitors to continue the learning.  We are also tired from information overload.  We are surprised that we would spend such a long time here.  More surprising is how extensive the collection is as opposed to our initial expectations.  It's worth every visit.

 If you are keen to visit, find out more here.   

TIP: There is no toilet inside the museum.  If you tell the staff you need to use the toilet, they will give you a little leaf chop on your hand to allow you to re-enter the museum after your toilet trip.  If not, you are not allowed to leave and re-enter the museum at other times.  There is a small museum shop selling drinks and dry snacks.  Other than that, have a good meal before or after the visit.