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This is an online event only. The Zoom link will be sent out a couple of hours before the start of the lecture.
This is a Linnean Lens event.
Linnaeus (1707-1778 described and named over 800 molluscan species, including many of the most familiar and widespread species. Through his many correspondents, he obtained shells from collectors, including shells from Cook’s Endeavour voyage from Danish naturalist Otto Friedrich Müller (1730-1784).
Join Jon Ablett, the Senior Curator in Charge of Molluscs at the Natural History Museum as he tells us about some of the amazing species found in the collection – from sex changing seashells, to killer cone shells and how humans globally have used molluscs for dyes, clothing, and even musical instruments. In addition, we’ll hear how the Linnean molluscs are linked to those housed in museums across the UK and Ireland and how the Mollusca Types in Britain and Ireland project is helping us to unlock the history of the collectors and researchers associated with this diverse and awe-inspiring group.
Jonathan Ablett is the senior curator in charge of Mollusca at the Natural History Museum in London. The Mollusca collections contain an estimated 8 million specimens (including c. 70,000 primary types) and with over 22 years of experience, Jonathan is responsible for the general curation, identification, and reorganisation of the material along with the accession of new material and answering enquiries and assisting scientific visitors for the collections under his care. His current areas of research interest include SE Asian and South American land snail diversity and the history of collectors/collecting in malacology. In 2006 he was responsible for the preparation of Archie our giant squid, the largest spirit preserved specimen in the museum to date.
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