The Museum of Tropical Queensland (abbreviated MTQ) is a museum of natural history,

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and history located in

Townsville, Queensland Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is located in the same complex as the

Reef HQ Reef HQ (typeset as ReefHQ) is the world's largest living coral reef aquarium. It is located in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The aquarium was built as a Bicentennial Commemorative project and is a part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Par ...

Aquarium. MTQ is a member of the

Queensland Museum The Queensland Museum is the state museum of Queensland, dedicated to natural history, cultural heritage, science and human achievement. The museum currently operates from its headquarters and general museum in South Brisbane with specialist mu ...

Campus Network.

History

The museum opened in 1987 as the "North Queensland Branch" of the Queensland Museum, under the direction of Curator-in-Charge Dr.

Carden Wallace Carden Crea Wallace ( fl. 1970–) is an Australian scientist who was the curator/director of the Museum of Tropical Queensland from 1987 to 2003. She is an expert on corals having written a "revision of the Genus '' Acropora''". Wallace was ...

. In 1997, Carden Wallace was named director of the museum. Its current building was constructed at a cost of 18 million Australian dollars, and was opened on 3 June 2000 by the then Queensland Premier

Peter Beattie Peter Douglas Beattie (born 18 November 1952) is an Australian former politician who served as the 36th Premier of Queensland, in office from 1998 to 2007. He was the state leader of the Labor Party from 1996 to 2007. Beattie was born in Sy ...

. In 2003, Sally Lewis was named director of the museum and two years later Spinderella the giant silver orb spider was unveiled. It overlooks Flinders Street East. In 2007, Peter McLeod was named director of the museum. in 2022, the Museum of Tropical Queensland partnered with the Museum of Underwater Art to showcase sculptures created by

Jason deCaires Taylor Jason deCaires Taylor (born 12 August 1974 in Dover) is a British sculptor and creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park – the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park – and underwater museum – Cancún Underwater Museum. He is best k ...

as part of the Ocean Sentinels above the surface exhibition. These sculptures of scientists, conservationists and traditional owners include

John Veron John Veron (born 1945), complete name John Edward Norwood Veron, credited in research as J. E. N. Veron, and in other writing as Charlie Veron, is a biologist, taxonomist, and specialist in the study of corals and reefs. He is believed to hav ...

and

Maurice Yonge Sir Charles Maurice Yonge, CBE, FRS FRSE (9 December 1899 – 17 March 1986) was an English marine zoologist. Life Charles Maurice Yonge was born in Silcoates School near Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1899 the son of John Arthur Yonge (1865-194 ...

Research

Scientists in the museum have gained international recognition in various fields, particularly those with marine themes.

Marine archaeology

The museum houses artefacts recovered from the wreck of HMS ''Pandora'', one of the most significant wrecks in Australian waters. The ''Pandora'' sank off the coast of north Queensland in 1791 after capturing some of the participants in the infamous mutiny on the ''Bounty''. The Maritime Archaeology Section administers the ''

Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 The ''Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976'' was an Australian Act of Parliament designed to legally protect historic shipwrecks and any relics or artefacts from those wrecks. The Act automatically affects all shipwrecks that meet the "historic" crit ...

'', which covers sites including HMS ''Pandora'' and SS ''Yongala'' wrecks. Access to these sites is through permit only.

Marine megafauna

In 2006, worldwide attention was received for the discovery of the

Australian snubfin dolphin The Australian snubfin dolphin (''Orcaella heinsohni'') is a dolphin found off the northern coasts of Australia. It closely resembles the Irrawaddy dolphin (of the same genus, ''Orcaella'') and was not described as a separate species until 2005 ...

, the first species of

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

to be discovered in 56 years.

Corals

The museum also houses what has been described as "the scientifically most important coral collection in the world".'Ask a Staghorn Coral'
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Images

Image:Museum of Tropical Queensland from Flinders Street East.jpg, A view of the museum from up the creek Image:Museum of Tropical Queensland from Ross Creek.jpg, A view of the museum from across Ross Creek

References

External links

* {{authority control Museums in Queensland Archaeological museums in Australia Natural history museums in Australia Museums established in 1987

Museum of Tropical Queensland The Museum of Tropical Queensland (abbreviated MTQ) is a museum of natural history, archaeology and history located in Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It is located in the same complex as the Reef HQ Aquarium. MTQ is a member of the Queens ...

Maritime museums in Australia 1987 establishments in Australia Tropical Queensland