Scribbles of a Zoology Student

Last week, I had the most wonderful experience of doing a night hike on one of Singapore’s offshore islands. The many islands surrounding mainland Singapore are famed for their rich biodiversity on terrestrial and aquatic fronts, and visits have always been highly rewarding. And this night walk did not disappoint at all. Our little team was on the lookout And this night walk did not disappoint at…

What does the front of a Japanese bullet train, sonar, and Velcro all have in common? They are all human inventions that were conceived and adapted from evolutions that exist in nature. How does nature inspire us, and how much more can we learn and adapt from nature? And can we embrace a biomimetic future, as we have done with biophilia? Dr Anuj Jain, co-founder of the Biomimicry Singapore Networ…

Since the (exaggerated) beginning of time, the snake has been the symbol of evil, deceit, villainy. And even in cultures where the serpent is worshipped, it is often feared more than revered. Singapore is home to about 70 species of snakes, and there are regular instances of human-snake interactions. Sankar Ananthanarayanan, president of the Herpetological Society of Singapore (HSS), will be intr…

Singapore is home to three native primate species; the long-tailed macaque, the Sunda slow loris, and the Raffles’ banded langur. Of these three, the Raffles’ banded langur is the rarest, with only 67 individuals found here. With only around 300 left in the world, these 67 rare monkeys are a top conservation priority. Dr Andie Ang, Research Scientist at Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fu…

Dr Darren Yeo from the NUS Biology lab spoke to us about investigating Singapore’s biodiversity using “environmental forensics”, but not quite the one you are thinking of, CSI-fans. When the general human population imagines biodiversity, megafauna comes to mind. Charismatic vertebrates dominate the media and act as flagship species for conservation campaigns. But, what if they are just the tip o…

We are going to need a bigger boat, because sharks! For our 12th and last #SGSTEM session of 2020, we had Ms Kathy Xu from The Dorsal Effect to take us on a dive into the world of shark conservation with a global perspective. Her experiences and expertise allowed us to better understand the work of shark conservation, along side some cool fun facts and stories as she got up-close and personal wit…

In this session, GIS Expert Mr Tony O’Dempsey helped us navigate the world of maps through his passion for putting the art back in cartography. And we all know that ‘X’ marks the spot, but why ‘X’? Maybe Tony would tell us! Maps of the past Maps in the 12th century, where some of the earliest surviving ones are from, were not as we know them today. They were just as much a work of art as they wer…

Ever sat on a local beach and wondered what lurked beneath our unassuming ‘Milo-brown’ waters? Well, you do not have to wonder anymore. For this session, we were joined by Dr Toh Tai Chong, who took us on a virtual dive to introduce us to the multitude of charismatic species that call our island’s waters home. Get ready to witness an underwater world we don’t usually get to see! Our tour started …

While we have touched on this topic in previous sessions via a question or two, it was about we dedicated a full session to it with an expert. With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in global lockdown, there has been a huge reduction in travel and traffic emissions. How has this affected the pandemic, and are … Continue reading "#SGSTEM 5: COVID-19 & Climate Change with Dr Winston Chow"

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve is one of the island’s oldest forest reserves, hosting some of the largest plots of primary rainforest. Although the forest is species-rich, researchers have noticed a decline in biodiversity. Can these decline patterns and baseline be used to better understand forest systems and aid reforestation processes? Dr Shawn Lum, Senior Lecturer at NTU and … Continue reading "#…

Food waste is one of the biggest waste streams in Singapore and the amount of food waste generated has grown by around 30% over the last 10 years. 763 million kg of food waste was generated in 2018 – that’s the weight of more than 54,000 double decker buses. In the average Singaporean household, food … Continue reading "#SGSTEM 3: Flies VS Food Wastage with Dr Nalini Puniamoorthy"

In the last few years, whenever Singapore is featured in a nature documentary, you can be sure that our adorable otters would be one of the major highlights; running across paths, coming into proximity to humans, lazing around in urban heartlands, and tugging at the heartstrings. But how much do we know about these otters … Continue reading "#SGSTEM 2: The Singapore Otters with Sivasothi the Otte…

With Singapore’s pandemic Circuit Breaker in place and extended, I took inspiration from the many webinars and online lectures that were put forth by the #SciComm community and decided to make a webinar of my own. With Marcus‘s aid and ideas, #SGSTEM went from a raw idea to its first session in under two weeks. … Continue reading "#SGSTEM 1: Climate Change Solutions with Prof Koh Lian Pin"

As with my last few blog posts, this too is based on a recent animal-related day. In this case, crows and ravens. It was International Crow & Raven Day on Monday, and I thought I would write a short post on crows and ravens and their famed intelligence. Crows and ravens, or corvids as they … Continue reading "Three’s a Murder"

We are all familiar with penguins, with their classic ‘tuxedoed’ looks, upright position, adorable waddle, and their overall uniqueness. But did you know that there are not one, but two days to commemorate and celebrate these charismatic birds? January 20 is Penguin Awareness Day, while this weekend, April 25, is World Penguin Day. According to … Continue reading "Smile & Wave"

‘As eager as a beaver’ or ‘as industrious as a beaver’ are terms we are familiar with. But how and why does the beaver get such accolades? What is it that the beaver does? The beaver is a sizeable semiaquatic rodent that is easily distinguished by its broad paddle-like tail. These are the second largest … Continue reading "Eager as a Beaver"

The world’s oldest zoo has been discovered during excavations in Hierakonpolis, Egypt dating to 3500 BC. While it was a long time ago and was very likely a private royal menagerie, there would have been people then that would have enjoyed and loved it, just people enjoy and love zoos today. While Zoo Lover’s Day … Continue reading "Zoo Lovers’ Day"

When the sun goes down, most animals retreat to the safety of their homes in burrows, nests, and tree holes. But not all of them. A whole range of nocturnal and crepuscular animals appear and make use of the darkness and cooler temperatures to forage. And in a highly developed environment like Singapore, night time … Continue reading "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

Recently, I have been doing a lot of reading on Komodo dragon morphology, colourations, and patterns. I am not breeding fancy dragon morphs, but looking at how I can further hone and add spark to a Lizardfolk monk I am building for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. All these reading and building made me realise … Continue reading "Here be Dragons"

After about 18 months away, I have returned home to the humid sunny shores of Singapore. Following a few weeks of heat/humidity acclimatisation, I headed out to my regular shooting spots. While my initial searches yielded nothing out of the ordinary, I got told by a friend about a pair of Oriental darters that had … Continue reading "It’s a snake! It’s a bird! It is a snakebird!"