Ian Archibald (born c. 1941) is an Australian taxidermist responsible for the preparation of animal specimens exhibited in Australian museums.

Works

Ian Archibald was not formally trained in taxidermy, instead researching the techniques and receiving correspondence and direct training from experts overseas. Archibald is noted as the creator of a large crocodile specimen in 1979, early in his career, made internationally famous as a promotion for the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

in the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy. This model, Sweetheart, remained as a permanent exhibition at the

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The museum is located in the inner Darwin suburb of Fannie Bay. The MAGNT is governed by the Board of the Museum and Art Gallery of the ...

for the next forty years. He was involved in the intricate reconstruction of a '' Dromornis stirtoni'' specimen, excavated at the Alcoota fossil site and a featured exhibition at the

Museum of Central Australia A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these i ...

; Archibald is reported as preparing most of the animal material at that museum.

Honours

A fossil species ''

Mutpuracinus archibaldi ''Mutpuracinus archibaldi'' is an extinct carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupial that lived during the middle Miocene and is the smallest known thylacinid at approximately 1.1 kilograms, the size of a quoll, though, more closely related to the recen ...

'' was named by

Peter F. Murray Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

and

Dirk Megirian A dirk is a long bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), ''Dagger'', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729 Historically, it gained its name from the Highland Dirk (Scot ...

for Archibald, a Miocene

thylacinid Thylacinidae is an extinct family of carnivorous, superficially dog-like marsupials from the order Dasyuromorphia. The only species to survive into modern times was the thylacine (''Thylacinus cynocephalus''), which became extinct in 1936. The ...

described in 2000 from specimens found at Bullock Creek in the Territory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archibald, Ian Taxidermists Australian curators 1940s births Living people