Silhouette Natural History Collection given extinct tortoise skull |19 September 2005

As the island with the most undisturbed flora and fauna, Silhouette deserved to have its own natural history museum collection to highlight the vast species list which was prepared by NPTS Scientific Co-ordinator, Dr. Justin Gerlach.

 Over the years the ever-increasing natural history collections have expanded to include exhibits of almost all the species found on this island.  Among them are an amazing number of different species of crabs and corals, mounted skeletons of birds and terrapins to explain the anatomy of these creatures to visitors, as well as turtle skulls and a ferocious-looking fruit bat skull which foxes the tourists!!

The latest treasure is a gift to Dr. Gerlach of the skull of an extinct Réunion tortoise from Dr. Roger Bour – the tortoise and terrapin expert at the Paris Museum of Natural History.  This unique specimen is now proudly displayed at the Silhouette Conservation Centre and Natural History Museum with the other "treasured" items in the collection – the gift of a whale's ear-bone from the late Seychelles naturalist, Betty Beckett,  who also bequeathed the fossilized dinosaur's vertebrae bones to fellow NPTS member, palaeontologist Laura Canning. Although dinosaurs are not part of our natural history, these fossil bones are a great favourite with young visitors. The gift of a tortoise carapace from Aldabra to the NPTS Information Centre from the Chairman of the Seychelles Island Foundation, Maurice Loustau-Lalanne, has proved invaluable when explaining tortoise anatomy and behaviour and answering the question "why can't they get out of their shells?"

On display are snakes, lizards and things that bite – to give a warning to the unwary visitor, a puzzle-nut to put together and a herbarium collection for those who have seen an interesting plant and can't identify it. The library consists of a broad range of general natural history reference books and scientific papers covering all aspects of research in these subjects in Seychelles.

The specimen cabinets house an ongoing comprehensive collection of all the insects identified to date and these range from a 35 cm. long millipede down to flies, each one no bigger than a grain of sand – and everything in between. There is a mounted collection of Drosophila fruit flies, presented by the Paris Museum of Natural History and a complete collection of lichens. Some of the larger spiders and scorpions are included in the specimen cabinets but as most of the smaller spiders are fragile when dry, they are kept in liquid preservative in a separate compartment.

All the land-snails of Seychelles are here too and the dredging of the new harbour in 2000  enabled us to begin what is now a collection of over 400 different species of marine shells plus several specimens of sea urchins – all dredged up from the sea-bed and all in pristine condition.

When the centre was opened in 1999, the intention was to make a collection of natural history specimens that would enhance the experience of visitors to Silhouette, both tourists and residents. Much to the delight of NPTS, the school on Silhouette and visiting school groups have been introduced to many facets of Seychelles natural history in this small self-financed centre. The collection has been greatly expanded during the Indian Ocean Biodiversity Assessment resulting in more use being made of the centre by visiting scientists and university field trips. The International School also runs its annual biology field trip in conjunction with the NPTS Conservation Centre.

Now, with all the development currently taking place on Silhouette, NPTS is looking forward to introducing many more people to the fascinating world of the island's wildlife.

Ron Gerlach
Nature Protection Trust Seychelles
(NPTS)