University Of Witwatersrand Zoology, The Departments of Botany and Zoology of the University of the Witwatersrand were founded in 1917 as part of the South African School of Mines and Technology. At that time their main function was to provide instruction for thirty eight students of medicine and dentistry. Today, we are known as the School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences (APES). In our 100 year history we have taught tens of thousands of students, many who have gone on to become leaders in climate change, conservation, journalism, tourism, and education and medicine; in addition, more than 12,500 first year medical students have been taught by our staff (including Sydney Brenner, the 2002 Nobel prize winner in Physiology or Medicine). Read more about the history of the School here.
Courses have been structured so that important basic knowledge can be retained while having time to explore new and relevant fields. Training involves both fieldwork and laboratory skills.
Photographic competition
As part of our 100-year anniversary celebrations, the School ran a photography competition for students and staff. The overall winner was PhD student Jason Donaldson (see one of his images in the night shot banner at the top of this page). Photographs from the 259 entries have been used throughout the APES website.
Zoological Collections
The Zoology Collection comprises several collections with over 60 000 specimens.
| Field | Size | Preparation | Types | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van der Horst slides – chordate, mainly mammalian vertebrate | 41 000 | Histology slides of embryological material | no types | 100% card catalogue 60% comp. database some field notes |
| Inhaca marine invertebrates | approx 600 | wet | no types | some |
| Inhaca Fish | 852 | wet | no types | checklist |
| Knowles Jordan shells of Port Alfred | 15 640 | shells | no types | catalogue |
| Feltham Lepidoptera SA | approx 850 | pinned | no types (donated to Transv l Museum) | checklist |
| Anura reference collection SA | approx 500 | wet | no types | 80% card catalogue |
| Teaching vertebrate and invertebrate | approx 1750 | wet 70%, skeletal 28%, models 2% | no types | 90 % card catalogue |
| Bird skins (teaching) | 140 | dry skins | no types | checklist and labels |
| Insect teaching colln | approx 2000 | pinned mainly | no types | none |
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