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[image: Female paper nautilus]
The natural history collections at Amgueddfa Cymru are among the basic tools used by experts around the globe for the scientific study of our natural world. From naming and classifying plants and animals, to understanding how the Wales we know today has evolved during the past, our collections and expertise help illustrate an understanding of the natural world we live in and help inform us about the choices we face for the planets future.
Learn amazing things about the natural history and landscape of Wales...
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Articles
Related articles from Rhagor
Storytellers
A selection of folk narratives from the extensive collections in the sound archive at St Fagans
Museums
Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales operates seven national museums across Wales.
Art works
A selection of art works from Art Collections Online.
Browse related themes
Plants & Animals
Taxonomy & Systematics
Evolution & Extinction
The Fossil Record
Threatened - Nature in Danger
The Dynamic World
Latest
Articles: Species new to Science: Polychaetes from the Falkland Islands
20 February 2013[image: Polecheate worm]
Polychaetes (or bristleworms) are found in nearly every marine habitat on Earth. They are very adaptable and diverse in appearance, and there are currently around 10,000 species described. With increasing environmental pressures on our marine environment it is more important than ever to know what species live where.Articles: Species new to science: Shovelhead Worms from around the world
8 January 2013[image: Shovelhead worm]
Marine bristle-worms (Polychaetes) are related to earthworms and leeches - well known examples are lugworms and ragworms used by sea fisherman as bait. The Magelonidae is a small family of polychaetes that have a unique flattened head, used for digging, giving them the common name, the shovelhead worms.
Articles: Unseasonal wild flowers in Cardiff: Winter 2012
20 December 2012[image: Wild flower]
New Years Day 2012 witnessed unusual widespread flowering of plants around the city of Cardiff. Will New Years Day 2013 bring the same, or were early winter frosts severe enough to prevent the unseasonal flowering of our wild flowers?Articles: Ancient fossil meets modern technology
17 December 2012Articles: Species new to science: Dance-Flies from Chile
26 November 2012
Articles
Articles: Species new to Science: Polychaetes from the Falkland Islands
20 February 2013[image: Polecheate worm]
Polychaetes (or bristleworms) are found in nearly every marine habitat on Earth. They are very adaptable and diverse in appearance, and there are currently around 10,000 species described. With increasing environmental pressures on our marine environment it is more important than ever to know what species live where.Articles: Species new to science: Shovelhead Worms from around the world
8 January 2013[image: Shovelhead worm]
Marine bristle-worms (Polychaetes) are related to earthworms and leeches - well known examples are lugworms and ragworms used by sea fisherman as bait. The Magelonidae is a small family of polychaetes that have a unique flattened head, used for digging, giving them the common name, the shovelhead worms.
Articles: Unseasonal wild flowers in Cardiff: Winter 2012
20 December 2012[image: Wild flower]
New Years Day 2012 witnessed unusual widespread flowering of plants around the city of Cardiff. Will New Years Day 2013 bring the same, or were early winter frosts severe enough to prevent the unseasonal flowering of our wild flowers?Articles: Ancient fossil meets modern technology
17 December 2012Articles: Species new to science: Dance-Flies from Chile
26 November 2012
Galleries
Galleries: Antarctic Penguins
29 May 2012[image: Gentoo Penguin, Waterboat Point, Antarctic Peninsula. Image: T Sharpe]
During the great age of Antarctic exploration, teams of scientists explored this last great frontier, bringing back new knowledge of the continent's rocks, weather and wildlife. To celebrate Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s 1910-13 British Antarctic Expedition, we focus on the Antarctic Penguin.
Galleries: Microscopic designs: Ernest Heath's collection of Foraminifera
15 March 2012[image: Heath microfossil collection]
These wonderful microscope slides are mostly made up of foraminifera (forams), tiny animals which live floating near the sea surface or on the sea bed. Would you have the patience to make up tiny patterns like these?
Galleries: British Seaweeds
4 October 2011[image: British Seaweeds]
Within its botanical collections, Amgueddfa Cymru houses a herbarium of dried, pressed algal specimens. This herbarium provides an essential resource for studying seaweeds.
Galleries: Documenting the Past – The Tomlin correspondence archive
15 February 2010Galleries: Crystals and Minerals
23 July 2009
Interactives
Interactives: Giant Waterlily navigator
13 July 2007[image: Victoria regia]
Move around a close-up image of this highly detailed lithograph of Victoria regia, the Giant Waterlily, taken from a book that was specially commissioned to celebrate the first flowering of the plant at Kew in 1854.
Interactives: Portuguese Man-of-War navigator
10 July 2007[image: ]
Navigate around the Portuguese Man-of-War and discover more about this remarkable creature.