Jack Ashby
@jackdashby.bsky.social
3K followers 270 following 590 posts
Award-winning author #PlatypusMatters & #NaturesMemory. Assistant Director of @ZoologyMuseum.bsky.social at Cambridge Uni. President of the Society for the History of Natural History. Australian mammal nerd. He/him. Own views.
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jackdashby.bsky.social
OK here I go. Expect posts about the wonderful world of Australian mammals, the quirks of natural history museums, and chasing beasts around the place.
jackdashby.bsky.social
The bookshops in #Tasmania and #Sydney always add a few kilos to my luggage - I'm particularly happy with my haul from my latest trip. 🤩📚
Four books on a table:
Dingo by Roland Breckwoldt
First Tasmanians by Shayne Breen
Why Weren't We Told? by Henry Reynolds
Tongerlongeter by Henry Reynolds and Nicholas Clements
jackdashby.bsky.social
A display at @mfnberlin.bsky.social highlights how much of a threat invasive species such as rabbits & foxes are to Australian wildlife, which is an important message, but it would be even better to make clear that these devastating environmental impacts are a direct consequence of #colonialism.
A display showing taxidermy rabbits and a taxidermy fox eating a wallaby a taxidermy fox eating a wallaby A close-up of the label, reading (translated):
The Ghosts I Called - Rabbit
Plague in Australia

Rabbits released in Geelong, Australia in 1859,
multiplied explosively and caused devastating damage to
agriculture and the native flora and fauna. The later introduction
of the red fox, which primarily fed on the easier-to-prey native
animals, did nothing to change this. Only the rabbit fences
built between 1901 and 1907 prevented further spread to
Western Australia. Today, the fences have been
abandoned, and the rabbits are being controlled with the
myxomatosis virus
jackdashby.bsky.social
The bird gallery at @mfnberlin.bsky.social is closed for redevelopment, but instead of packing away their #birds, they crated up 11,500 #taxidermy specimens and put the crates on display instead. It's a really interesting - and beautiful - approach to open storage. #museums
A series of wooden crates with glass fronts, containing densely packed shelves of taxidermy birds. A wooden crate with a glass front, containing densely packed shelves of taxidermy birds. A wooden crate with a glass front, containing densely packed shelves of taxidermy birds of prey. A wooden crate with a glass front, containing densely packed shelves of taxidermy toucans and hummingbirds
jackdashby.bsky.social
One of the more contraversial specimens at @mfnberlin.bsky.social: Tristan Otto, the privately owned #Trex. Many museum curators are very anxious about important #fossils being traded privately on the art market, as there is no guarantee they will be permanently available to scientists. 5/5
Tristan Otto the Tyrannosaurus rex
jackdashby.bsky.social
One of the most iconic examples of "open display" in any natural history museum: @mfnberlin.bsky.social's "wet collection". Visitors can walk around the glass walls housing thousands of preserved fish specimens in jars, conveying what the research collection looks like. 4/5
Shelves of fishes preserved in jars. The outside glass walls of a room containing shelves of fishes preserved in jars. The outside glass walls of a room containing shelves of fishes preserved in jars.
jackdashby.bsky.social
One of the finest #thylacine specimens in Europe. Unlike many other #taxidermy #thylacines, this specimen has not been posed to make it look ferocious. Other specimens feed into the notion that they were dangerous pests, but this simply evokes the sadness of their #extinction. 3/5
The head and shoulders of Berlin's mounted thylacine Berlin's mounted thylacine
jackdashby.bsky.social
This is the tallest mounted #dinosaur in the world: the "original" Brachiousaurus, collected in "German East Africa". New labels explain how the #fossils' discovery and excavation were reliant on local experts. Tanzania did ask for it to be returned, but then changed their mind. 2/5
The central hall of the Museum fur Naturkunde in Berlin, with the Brachiosaurus as the centrepiece
jackdashby.bsky.social
Here's a little 🧵 of some of the specimens at @mfnberlin.bsky.social which would be superstars at any natural history #museum...
The finest specimen of Archaeopteryx - the first bird, from ~160 million years ago. The chap who found this #fossil traded it for a cow. 1/5
The Berlin Archaeopteryx, with incredible preservation showing the wings spread with the feathers preserved
jackdashby.bsky.social
On Friday I was "in-conversation" with the outstanding journalist, writer & science communicator @zoekeansci.bsky.social at the #Hobart Bookshop, chatting about #NaturesMemory.
Huge congrats to Zoe: her book Why Are We Like This was described as the century's top nonfiction book by The Science Show!
Jack Ashby and Zoe Kean talking at the event in the Hobart Bookshop Jack Ashby and Zoe Kean having dinner. Jack is holding Zoe's book "Why are we like this". Zoe is holding Jack's book "Nature's Memory: Behind the Scenes at the World's Natural History Museums
jackdashby.bsky.social
Very excited to be at @mfnberlin.bsky.social for a workshop on comprehending the cultural value of colonial Australian natural history collections (and thoroughly honoured to have been invited to give one of the keynotes).
The lecture screen and lectern. The title slide reads 
BERLIN’S AUSTRALIAN ARCHIVE & CENTER FOR HUMANITIES OF NATURE
Translocated Nature from Australia as Indigenous Cultural Belongings The programme for the workshop. It reads
BERLIN’S AUSTRALIAN ARCHIVE & CENTER FOR HUMANITIES OF NATURE 
Translocated Nature from Australia as Indigenous Cultural Belongings Check-In & Opening Opening Remarks (pre-recorded) Laura McBride & Mariko Smith, Australian Museum, Sydney 
Keynote Rebecca Carland, Museums Victoria 
Coffee Break 
Berlin’s Australian Archive Project Presentation 
Lunch 
Project Presentations, part I
 Alison Clark, National Museums Scotland 
Rachel Webster, Manchester Museum 
Lindiwe Breuer, Technische Universität Berlin
 Coffee Break 
Project Presentations, part II 
Luiza Bengtsson, Botanischer Garten Berlin 
Ina Heumann & Katja Kaiser, MfN Berlin
 Yann LeGall, Technische Universität Berlin 
Isabel Davis, Natural History Museum London 
Keynote Jack Ashby, University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge 
Round Table: ‘Nature’ as Indigenous Cultural Belongings The title slide, showing a platypus head, with the title:
Museums, colonial entanglements and Australian mammals
jackdashby.bsky.social
Because their legs are so short, young #wombats just seem to flow over the land when they walk.
#WombatWednesday #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombat
Reposted by Jack Ashby
bobchipman.bsky.social
I always thought these were small and it still weird me out that they're kinda big
jackdashby.bsky.social
Sometimes a #wombat's eyes light up and they move with a sudden sense of purpose, to nowhere in particular.
#WombatWednesday #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombats
jackdashby.bsky.social
Some excellent #orchids with excellent names in #Tasmania & #RoyalNationalPark:
Three-horned bird orchid (Chiloglottis triceratops, which Wikipedia reckons is named as it resembles the dinosaur, rather then because it has three "horns" on its tongue).
Red bearded #orchid.
Sun orchid.
Mayfly orchid.🌸
Three-horned bird orchid (Chiloglottis triceratop Red bearded orchid Sun orchid Thelymitra Mayfly orchid Acianthus caudatus,
jackdashby.bsky.social
It looks like Mama Frog may not have chosen the best spot to lay her eggs in #RoyalNationalPark. I'm amazed they've not been eaten by birds or other predators - perhaps they taste awful. 🐸
#frogs #herping #WildOz
jackdashby.bsky.social
Thanks for having back me, Australia! Trip No. 21 was a busy one - met a bunch of #wombats and #echidnas, waded through a lot of snow, gave a few talks, caught up with some dear buddies, and generally felt awestruck ince again by the world's best wildlife 🤩
A list of trips handwritten in the front of a birding field guide. The most recent is No. 21, listing locations in Tasmania and Sydney An echidna in grass and ferns A wombat on grass with a stream behind A selfie of Jack Ashby in a snowy mountain scene
jackdashby.bsky.social
I know it seems conceited to look for your own books in every bookstore you pass, but after all that goes into writing a book, there really is a sense of accomplishment when you spot them out in the world. Really thrilled to see #NaturesMemory, #PlatypusMatters & WILD all across #Tasmania & #Sydney.
A bookshop shelf display, showing Nature's Memory, with its cover facing out A bookshop shelf, including Platypus Matters A bookshop shelf, including Nature's Memory A bookshop shelf, including Wild: A Family Guide to the Animal Kingdom
jackdashby.bsky.social
A baby #humpback #whale rises first - with the white of its belly spread all up its side - then mum rises, nose to tail, off of the Tasman Peninsula, #Tasmania. 🐋
#MammalWatching #WhaleWatching #WildOz #whales
jackdashby.bsky.social
As platypus is derived from Greek (meaning flat foot), the plural isn't platypi (which is what it would be if it derived from Latin) - if we stuck with the Greek it would be platypodes, but the English platypuses is more standard.
jackdashby.bsky.social
Platypuses hunt underwater (their bills detect the electricity given off by their preys' muscles), and cram the food into cheek-pouches, then come to the surface to chew it up.
#Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #platypuses
jackdashby.bsky.social
This is this evening! Cone along if you're near #Hobart #Tasmania!
jackdashby.bsky.social
TASMANIANS!
This time next week I'll be at The #Hobart Bookshop talking about #NaturesMemory: Behind the Scenes at the World’s Natural History Museums, in conversation with local author @zoekeansci.bsky.social.
It's free - come along. Book here:
www.trybooking.com/events/landi... #Tasmania
Author Event: Nature's Memory (Jack Ashby)
We are delighted to be hosting an in-conversation event to celebrate the release of Nature’s Memory by zoologist and writer Jack Ashby, joined by...
www.trybooking.com
jackdashby.bsky.social
A wet wombatlet in a wet land.
#WombatWednesday
#Tasmania #MammalWatching #wombat #WildOz #wombats
jackdashby.bsky.social
They're definitely fluffier! (They're a different subspecies to mainland Tasmania, introduced to Maria from Flinders Island in the Bass Strait)
jackdashby.bsky.social
Sometimes a #wombat's eyes light up and they move with a sudden sense of purpose, to nowhere in particular.
#WombatWednesday #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombats
jackdashby.bsky.social
I spoke to ABC Radio #Hobart about #NaturesMemory & life behind the scenes at natural history #museums, inc. what gets left off display, trends in taxidermy #thylacines & links between colonial violence in #Tasmania & museum collecting. From 2.10 (24mins from the end):
www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Jack Ashby outside a sandstone building with the ABC logo on it
jackdashby.bsky.social
Just a #platypus having a scratch.
#Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #platypuses