120 Years in 120 Objects
Join the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in celebrating the museumโs 120th year of orbiting the sun. Staff and guest curators have chosen one object or item per year of our existence to highlight to the public. Visit the website and our social media platforms regularly to see the latest object and keep an eye out for information about a physical exhibition later this year!
Todayโs Object is from 1968
Earth Worms in Heaven by Thembeka Nxele, Curator of Oligochaeta
A collection of earthworms that was donated to the museum from Potchefstroom had specimens that were collected, for the first time in southern Africa, from high altitudes. These specimens were collected by JF Prinsloo in 1968 from the mountains of Lesotho and belong to the Proandricus lesothoensis. This species was described by Reinecke & Ryke in 1969 who were at the University of Potchefstroom (now, North-West University). These authors originally placed this species in the genus Geogenia, however, Plisko transferred it to Proandricus genus in 1994 because their testes only occur in segment 10.
The specimens were collected from different sites in the mountains and they remain the โhighestโ earthworms collected in Africa. The collection inludes the following specimens:
1. 26/11/1968 collected in the Butha-Buthe District, 10,000 ft.(~3000m) above sea-level.
2. 13/4/1968 taken from central Lesotho, approx. 90 miles from Maseru near Mahala's camp, 8,200 ft. (~2400m) above sea-level.
3. 26/11/1968 found in the Butha-Buthe District, on the north-western side of the Maloti-Drakensberg ca. 10,800 ft. (~3,300m) above sea-level.
Later, more specimens were collected from the Cathedral Peak area. Amongst Proandricus species, lesothoensis has an uncommon anatomy, with spermathecae in both testicular and anterior-to-testicular segments.
The first earthworm species from high altitudes, donated from Potchefstroom.
