The Moscow Zoo Museum is located in the most beautiful and ancient building on the territory of the zoo. This is a “stone pavilion for ungulates on 2 floors”, built in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. You've seen it exactly: Samson the giraffe lives on the first floor, and on the second floor there is the Museum of the History of the Moscow Zoo. Entrance to the museum is free! There are no animals here, but it is very interesting here!
The hall displays the emblems of zoos around the world, of which there are already more than 10 thousand.
Each zoo has its own memorable emblem, unlike others.
The Museum of the History of the Zoo is a dynamically developing exhibition project of the State Institution “Moscow Zoo”, formed in 2008-2015 as a Visitor Center and then developed into a unique educational museum exhibition.
The desire to show the complex and interesting life of zoos “from the inside” prompted the staff of the Moscow Zoo to create a Visit Center in 2008, the exhibition of which allows you to look at the relationship between humans and wild animals as a continuous process - from hunting and use as food, clothing, housing, temporary detention in primitive pens - before breeding in captivity in order to preserve wild fauna on Earth, as a biological and aesthetic value.
In the central hall of the exhibition three main themes are intertwined: the relationship between humans and animals, the creation and functioning of zoos and the history of the Moscow Zoo.
There are four columns in the hall, each of which carries a certain load and tells about what is around it.
The first column tells about ancient civilization, in particular Egypt. It tells about the collection of animals that were created by the ancient Egyptian, Roman and Greek rulers. Animals at that time were used only for food. Later they began to use animal skins for clothing and housing.
Animals were used as helpers for people, such as picking fruit from trees. Animals were used for military purposes, as well as for entertainment - animal fights.
The model of the Colosseum, everything was done according to ancient books, turned out to be quite difficult to complete
The Age of Discovery gave impetus to the emergence of zoos in our modern sense
The showcase is dedicated to the Moscow Zoo. Photographs of the founders and zoo pavilions are presented. Coins of 10, 20.50 kopecks are on display. In those years, on different days, ticket prices were different. On the day when admission cost 50 kopecks, wealthy people came, they felt more comfortable walking around the zoo.
In the 1890s, buildings appeared that are still on the territory of the zoo - the dovecote building, the museum building
From the archives: facade of the Moscow Zoo Museum building
Another column is dedicated to zoos in Europe, which were visited by the creators of the Moscow Zoo and from what they saw they emphasized something for the creation of our zoo.
The first European zoo opened in 1752 – Vienna Zoo
In 1857, A.P. Bogdanov presented a report to the Acclimatization Committee “On taking measures to establish a zoological garden.” While on a business trip abroad, he, on behalf of the Committee, visited the zoological gardens of London, Paris, Amsterdam, Ghent and Harlem. The study of the structure of zoological gardens in Europe, their layout, the architecture of pavilions, the principles of keeping animals formed the basis for the creation of the Moscow Zoological Garden.
The initiator of the project was Vladimir Vladimirovich Spitsin, and the authors were L.V. Egorova - one of the oldest employees of the zoo, I.L. Kostina, T.E. Baluyan, N.V. Karpov, V.P. Sheveleva, E.Ya. Migunova, T.V. Voronina, N.R. Rubinstein and other zoo employees, as well as the architect N.I. Sokolova, who found imaginative and precise solutions for organizing a very difficult exhibition space, organically connecting the historical, zoological and cultural lines presented in the museum.
The first animals of the zoo are large animals donated by patrons of the arts.
One of the first zoo animals can probably be considered the wallaby kangaroo.
The territory for the zoo had already been chosen, but was not yet organized (there were no buildings or fences). While all this was being done, the animals were placed in the yards of the employees of the acclimatization society, in general, the acclimatization society began to create a zoo. The wallaby kangaroo lived at the home of Professor Usov, one of the creators of the zoo, and slept on his bed. He was a very tame kangaroo.
After the revolution, the zoo had difficult times, there were big problems with food, there was nothing to heat it with. Moscow was cold and starving, and accordingly the zoo also suffered, but survived. There were difficult times for the zoo in the 30s, at that time many were afraid of a car approaching the entrance. Many zoo employees were repressed.
During the war it was a very difficult time for the zoo; by the way, during the Second World War the zoo practically did not close. Maybe there were several days, during the heaviest raids and bombings.
All employees were on duty on the roofs of the zoo's pavilions these days. Many employees lived on the zoo grounds. There was a family named Zakusilo. They lived on the territory of the zoo, during the raid they were both on the roof of the pavilion dropping incendiary bombs. They saw how a bomb hit their house and no one was on duty there; their main concern was to protect the animals.
Two side halls tell only about the Moscow Zoo.
the museum will be interesting for both children and their parents
All exhibitions are decorated with animalistic works
The museum has some biological objects, but only those that the animals themselves have already lost
For example, an elephant lost a tooth, sawed off the horns, and the fur of a musk ox. The museum does not keep stuffed animals.
The main gate of the zoo has become the hallmark of the Moscow Zoo and the Presnya district
The main entrance of the zoo in different years
In the center of the museum there is a large model of the Moscow Zoo.
Schemes of the zoo in different years
When Yuri Luzhkov came to the zoo for the first time with his little daughter and saw what a deplorable state the zoo was in... he said that we were urgently starting reconstruction. The end of this reconstruction is still taking place.
There are still a lot of interesting things in the museum, of course it’s better to go and see for yourself :)
I would like to say a huge thank you for your efforts in opening the Moscow Zoo Museum - Natalya Ivanovna, the artist who came up with the design of the museum, as well as the author of the exhibition, Irina Kostina
Come with your whole family to the museum and if you like it, write your review about the museum in the book of honored guests
The State Zoological Museum of Moscow State University on Bolshaya Nikitskaya is the largest exhibition center in the capital.
It gives you the opportunity to appreciate how diverse the animal world is - even on the bas-reliefs, on the façade, there are images of animals, and the museum’s logo is the muskrat animal. This is an amazing building, full of the most amazing specimens of the fauna of our planet. I can’t even describe what it’s like to be in such a place... It’s better to see with your own eyes.
The building is located in the city center. Official information can be found on the museum's website.
History of origin
It was founded in 1791. At first, at the capital’s university there was a small office where natural history was studied. In fact, a small exhibition was created here a third of a century later, and it was called the “mineralogy cabinet.”
But when biological specimens were presented among the exhibition specimens, they were used to create a natural history cabinet. The head of the department was Ivan Andreevich Sibirsky.
It is important to know: P.G. made a great contribution to the formation of exhibits. Demidov, who at the beginning of the 19th century donated magnificent exhibits and a library to the center.
The first inventory of the new property dates back to 1806-1807. But a fire in 1812 caused great damage to the complex, its property was almost destroyed.
G.I. Fisher began active restoration; he attracted a large number of collectors and naturalists, and after some time the fund consisted of six thousand exhibits. And six years later, the center’s property doubled.
By the beginning of the 30s. In the 19th century, the collection volume consisted of 25 thousand items. The building on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street was built at the beginning of the 20th century. The project for it was developed by K.M. Bykovsky. And by the 30s. last century, the institution was transferred to the Biological Faculty of Moscow State University.
Exhibitions
The exhibition in this case represents almost ten thousand copies. It begins with single-celled organisms, shown through artificial modeling, and ends with large reptiles and bison.
The main exhibition provides an opportunity to get acquainted with animals from all over the world and is organized according to class method (starting from the protozoa and gradually moving to the order of vertebrates).
The lower hall, located on the 1st floor, displays a wide variety of animals. Visitors can see here both a single-celled organism and a large reptile.
The number of exhibits is so huge that you could spend several days exploring. The 2nd floor is occupied by the upper hall, which is completely “populated” by birds and mammals. There is also a Bone Hall here. The exhibition in this case provides an overview of the animals from the inside. Visitors here can see:
- mammoth skeleton;
- fake rhinoceros;
- fake elephant;
- fake hippopotamus;
- stuffed crocodile and boa constrictor.
For visitors who want to learn more about animals, the staff of the establishment organizes lectures. They are carried out taking into account children's age characteristics.
On weekends, fascinating lectures for children and parents are given by the Biolektorium. The lobby and exhibition spaces display paintings by famous animal painters. There are works here:
- V.A. Vatagina;
- N.N. Kondakova and others.
What interesting things you should know about the zoo museum:
- The symbol of the museum is the Russian muskrat, listed in the Red Book of Russia. She is depicted on the emblem;
- The entomology department has a collection of 4 million insect specimens;
- In addition to lectures, the institution’s staff conduct interactive classes for children of different age groups and organize children’s birthday parties;
- Every Saturday and Sunday “Biolectory” holds lectures for parents with children aged five years and older. The features and secrets of biology are presented here in an easy, relaxed manner;
- The museum has a “Scientific Terrarium” that introduces visitors to the peculiarities of the life of reptiles. The opening hours of the “Scientific Terrarium” are from 11.00 to 17.00 on weekends. You will need a separate ticket to visit it. The price of such a ticket includes not only an exciting narrative, but also the opportunity to hold rare animals in your hands;
Interesting fact: at the end of the last century, the institution was given the name Research Zoological Museum of Lomonosov Moscow State University. After numerous changes of status, this name is still valid.
- A youth club was organized for high school and college students; it is based on the original development of researcher E. Dunaev.
Address
The exhibition complex is located at the address: Moscow, Bolshaya Nikitskaya street, building 6. It is not difficult to find. It is located directly in the center of the capital.
Is it difficult to reach by public transport? Not at all - having taken the metro to the Library named after. Lenin" or "Okhotny Ryad", you need to head to house No. 6 on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street (this is the former Herzen Street). The location you are looking for is located nearby and can be reached in less than ten minutes.
Operating mode
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. it is open to visitors. Mondays only - days off. The last Tuesday of the month is also non-working.
Ticket prices
For adult visitors, the ticket price is 200 rubles. For school-age children, students and pensioners there is a discounted price of 50 rubles.
Children under seven years of age have the opportunity to visit exhibitions without tickets. This is also allowed for persons belonging to preferential categories.
If you come with the whole family or a group, you can book an excursion. For a group of 7 people it will cost 1,500 rubles.
If you arrive without a group, but want to ask for a guide, then just purchase a ticket for 250 rubles. for an adult and 100 rub. for a child and join any large excursion group.
Visitor reviews
The fact that this place is truly very interesting is evidenced by numerous positive reviews from visitors. Here are some of them:
- “I’ve lived in Moscow for almost 50 years, but this was my first time visiting the zoo museum. And I was pleasantly surprised. Everything turned out to be very educational. I recommend visiting, it won’t be a waste of time” Alexander, 48 years old, Moscow;
- “I went to the exhibition on the advice of friends, and did not regret it at all. The exhibition turned out to be simply unique. Allowed to take free photos” Anastasia, 45 years old, Reutov;
- “I brought my seven-year-old daughter to the Zoological Institute. To make the excursion more interesting, we hired a guide. The child received a lot of impressions, especially impressed by the exhibition of animal skeletons” Lydia, 36 years old, Balashikha;
- “We came to get acquainted with zoology with our three children (9, 7 and 5 years old), we left the car in the parking lot. The establishment pleased me with its excellent exhibits and cleanliness. The whole family had great fun, the children were delighted with the starfish, the she-wolf with her cubs, the squirrel and the big sea turtle.” Evgeniy and Svetlana, Yegoryevsk, Moscow region;
- “The zoo museum has an exhibition of sea mollusks, and my son is very interested in them. We can say that we came for this exhibition. Immediately on the spot we became interested in other exhibits and had a pleasant time. All the information turned out to be informative and interesting. The staff here is very well-mannered and polite. It turns out that on Sundays they hold special classes for schoolchildren, you should definitely attend these lectures.” Angelina, 36 years old, Moscow.
What excursions are held at the Zoological Museum, see the following video.
Main dates and events in the history of the Zoological Museum of Moscow University
Second half of the 1750s. Foundation of Moscow University with the Department of Natural History (1755); donation to the University by the Demidov family of their family collection of natural history objects - the “Henkel Cabinet” (1757–1759), the establishment on its basis of the Mineral (Natural) Cabinet at the said Department (1759) - the predecessor of the modern Zoological and Mineralogical Museums.
1770 The mineral cabinet is being brought into the system, and its first inventory is being compiled.
1791 Relocation of the Mineralogical (Natural) office from the former Pharmacy House to the new university building on Mokhovaya; from this year it begins to be titled “Cabinet of Natural History”; This year marks the existence of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University.
1805–1807 Based on donated P.G. Demidov of the collection of natural history at the University established the Demidov Department of Natural History with the transfer of the Cabinet of Natural History to the jurisdiction of its ordinary professor (head); bringing the two main sections of the university collection - the “Imperial Museum” and the “Demidov Museum” - into order, corresponding to the Natural System accepted in Europe; its complete catalog is compiled and published.
1810s Destruction of almost the entire university collection of natural history objects in the Moscow fire (1812); the restoration of this collection anew through numerous donations (1813 onwards); its location is in the restored university building on Mokhovaya on the right corner of Nikitskaya Street. (1818); the new collection is organized not according to the previous “departmental”, but according to a “natural” principle - like the Zoological and Mineralogical cabinets.
Mid-second half of the 1830s. According to the new university Charter, the single Demidov Department and the Museum of Natural History were abolished and divided according to the above “natural” principle into departments of zoology and mineralogy with offices of the same name attached to them (1835), they are assigned to different professors; however, subsequent (up to the 1860s) university annual reports indicate that these offices are departments of the Natural History Museum; moving the collections to the new building of the University on the left side of Nikitskaya Street. (1837).
Late 1840s The zoological and mineralogical collections are separated geographically: this became an important prerequisite for the transformation of the Zoological Cabinet into a full-fledged Zoological Museum.
First half of the 1860s By order of the trustee of the Moscow educational district, almost the entire collection of naturals that makes up the university Museum of Natural History was transferred to the newly created Public Museum (1861); in 1864–1865 collections have been returned. The Zoological Cabinet is fully integrated with the Department of Zoology, a special “staffing division” has been established between them: this strengthened the demarcation of the two sections of the named Museum of Natural History (which had actually ceased its “single” existence) and became the last step towards the transformation of the Zoological Cabinet into an independent Zoological Museum (1870 -e years).
1900s Moving of the Zoo Museum to the newly rebuilt building of the Zoological Building on the right side of Nikitskaya Street, which it shares with the Institute and Museum of Comparative Anatomy (1901–1902). The exhibition halls on the second floor are equipped with specially ordered metal display cases from the Künscherf company (1907–1909). The floor in the Lower Hall was completely rebuilt (1910). The upper hall of the Zoo Museum opens to visitors (1911).
First half of the 1930s In connection with the reorganization of the entire scientific and educational system of the country, the Zoo Museum is assigned a mainly educational (exhibition) function. Its scientific part (including the management of stock collections) is briefly transferred to the jurisdiction of the Scientific Research Institute of Zoology (NIIZ), whose leadership proposes to distribute the museum collections to other universities, museums and schools (1930). The Museum of Comparative Anatomy (1931) is attached to the Zoo Museum; The Zoo Museum (in its new composition) is transferred from the university subordination to the direct subordination of the Main Science of the People's Commissariat for Education, it receives the name “Moscow Zoological Museum” (1931). From now on, the director of the Zoo Museum is appointed regardless of official position in any of the faculty departments; the administrative and staffing system is changing in it (1932), accounting, storage and exhibition work is being established (1933–1935); the exhibition in the Lower Hall is reorganized and it opens to the public (1932–1933).
First half of the 1940s. In connection with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, part of the Zoo Museum’s collections was taken to Ashgabat, some were conserved (1941); some time later they return to Moscow and are placed in their original places; the exhibition halls on the second floor are opened to the public (1942–1943)
Early 1950s Due to the introduction of a new salary system in the scientific and teaching system, almost all of its leading employees are leaving the Zoo Museum. In preparation for the move of most of the faculties of Moscow University to a new complex of buildings on the Lenin Hills, many premises of the Zoo Museum are allocated for various types of services and materials, exhibition halls are closed to the public, and a significant part of the collections is conserved (1951–1952). After the move and the vacancy of the premises, storage and exhibition work returned to normal (1955–1955). The relocation of the Faculty of Biology greatly reduced the possibility of including museum collections in the pedagogical process; For the same reason, the Zoo Museum was deprived of almost its entire scientific library.
Mid-1960s To correct the abnormal situation with the official salaries of the Zoo Museum's scientific staff, they are officially “assigned” to specialized departments of the Faculty of Biology. The situation with salaries is improving, employees continue to work within the walls of the Zoo Museum, providing the entire system of replenishment, storage and use of collection funds, but “legally” it is deprived of its scientific and conservation staff.
1970s and 1980s The museum is entering a difficult and long period of major renovation, which began with the failure of the floor of the lower hall (1971). During the renovation, the area occupied by the Museum was significantly expanded (due to the addition of premises previously allocated for residential apartments), the Lower Hall was equipped with new metal display cases, the Zoological Auditorium was reconstructed, many storage facilities were equipped with metal racks and cabinets. During the second half of the 1980s. collections are housed in the old and new premises, exhibition halls are open to the public.
1991 The Zoo Museum was given the status of a research institution, it is called the “Research Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov"; Researchers working at the Zoo Museum are once again officially included in its staff.
Early–mid 2010s Scientific and educational activities are significantly intensifying at the Zoo Museum. The zoological auditorium is reorganized into the Biolecture Hall (2006), and the Zoological Museum begins to actively participate in city educational events. New divisions are being established: a terrarium with scientific and educational functions (2010), a sector of scientific and public projects (2010), the Belomorsk branch of the Zoo Museum on the basis of the Belomorsk Biological Station of Moscow State University (2011). Digital technologies are beginning to be actively used in scientific storage and educational work: electronic databases on scientific (including standard) collections are being organized.
The ancestors of mammals were reptiles that retained certain structural features of amphibians: skin glands, a double occipital condyle, and a peculiar arrangement of joints in the limbs. At the same time, they had such advanced features as a secondary bony palate, complex differentiation of the dental system; perhaps fur and the ability to thermoregulate. The most likely ancestral group for mammals is considered to be one of the orders of animal-like reptiles, Therapsida; The Cynodontia group, which existed until the Upper Triassic, was especially close to them. From this period (160 million years ago) until the beginning of the Tertiary time (about 35 million years ago), the most common group of mammals were the so-called multitubercles. These small animals got their name due to the presence of numerous tubercles on their molars. They had no fangs, but, like modern rodents, they had highly developed incisors. Polytubercles were specialized herbivores and cannot be considered the direct ancestors of other groups of mammals, but it is possible that early forms could have given rise to monotremes. In sediments from the mid-Jurassic to the Cretaceous, fossil remains of representatives of another group of mammals, tritubercles, are found, revealing the true history of this class. Their dental system was less specialized than that of multituberculates; the dentition was continuous. These were small animals close to insectivores; They ate both animal and plant foods. Tritubercles, in particular Panthotherium, are the most likely ancestors of modern marsupials and placental mammals. The first marsupials apparently appeared at the beginning of the Cretaceous period, but their fossil remains are known only from the Upper Cretaceous deposits in North America; in Lower Tertiary deposits they are also found in Eurasia. Thus, the homeland of marsupials is the northern hemisphere, but even before the end of the Tertiary period they were pushed south by more highly organized placental mammals, and are currently preserved only in Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania and South America. Higher, or placental mammals, like marsupials, evolved from tritubercles at the beginning of the Cretaceous period (125 million years ago). To date, 35 placental orders are known, of which 21 currently exist, and 14 are completely extinct. The formation of modern orders of higher mammals occurred 90–85 million years ago, and the currently existing families arose in the late Eocene and early Miocene.
The most important features of the general organization of mammals are: a high level of development of the nervous system, providing complex and perfect forms of reaction to environmental influences; a perfect thermoregulation system that determines the constancy of the internal environment of the body; and viviparity, combined (unlike other viviparous vertebrates, such as fish and reptiles) with feeding the young with milk. Of the structural features, several points should be noted. The body of mammals is covered with hair, or wool (although there are exceptions of a secondary nature). The skin is rich in glands that have diverse and very important functional significance; especially characteristic are the mammary glands, which are absent in other vertebrates. The lower jaw consists of only one (dentary) bone. The teeth sitting in the alveoli are differentiated into incisors, canines and molars. In the middle ear cavity there are three (and not one, as in amphibians, reptiles and birds) auditory ossicles. The heart is four-chambered, with one (left) aortic arch. Red blood cells - erythrocytes - lack nuclei, which increases their oxygen capacity. It is easy to imagine how enormously important these adaptations are for the distribution of mammals in a variety of living conditions.
A positive or negative assessment of individual animal species is not always unambiguous, because in different natural and economic environments they can play different roles. Thus, many species of small rodents harm field crops or young forests; in certain situations, they pose a danger to human health, as guardians of infections and feeders of ticks - disease transmitters. On the other hand, in natural habitats these animals are an important and necessary component of ecosystems.
Since prehistoric times, our ancestors hunted for the meat, skins or fat of mammals. Later, in order to protect himself from the accidents of hunting, man began to tame wild animals. Scientists judge the time and place of domestication of individual breeds from excavations of ancient settlements and preserved objects of fine art, and the supposed centers of origin are determined by the areas of their wild ancestors. For thousands of years, domestic animals have been a source of food for humans or perform various forms of household chores. Others, without bringing any direct benefit, simply occupy leisure time and provide pleasure.
Museum exposition
In total, the collection of the Zoological Museum exhibits 704 species of mammals, represented by 1,493 stuffed animals, skeletons and alcohol preparations. Of these, 44 exhibits (related to 34 species of cetaceans and pinnipeds) are exhibited in Hall I, and 1449, representing 670 species of the remaining 19 orders of mammals, are located in Hall III of the museum. On the walls of Hall III there is also a collection of horns in the amount of 144 specimens belonging to 28 species of ungulates. In addition, sculptures, models and anatomical preparations are displayed on information stands. The total number of exhibits in the mammal department in halls I and III totals 2,110 storage units.
The main part of the first hall of the museum is occupied by an exhibition dedicated to two orders of mammals - cetaceans and pinnipeds. Modern representatives of these groups are closely associated with the aquatic environment, but trace their origins to terrestrial ancestors. The central exhibit of the collection is one of the world's largest skeletons of a blue whale, 27 m long. Its history is well known: the whale died when it found itself at low tide on a sandbank near the Belgian city of Ostend in November 1827. Among the townspeople who gathered to look at the rare animal were scientists who described the animal in detail and artists who captured this event in several engravings. Over the course of several days, the whale carcass was cut up, the bones carefully cleaned, and then mounted. Soon the skeleton was taken for display, first to Paris, then to London and America. 30 years later, in 1856, this exhibit was acquired by our compatriot, E.P. Balabin, and donated to the Imperial Zoological Museum. The blue whale is the largest animal that has ever existed on Earth. This giant feeds on the smallest sea crustaceans - plankton, so its jaws are devoid of teeth, and the oral cavity is filled with whalebone - horny plates up to 1.5 m in height with a rough, thick fringe along the lower edge. These plates make up a huge sieve on which crustaceans captured with sea water settle. This peculiar structure of the oral apparatus is characteristic of the so-called baleen whales, in contrast to toothed whales, most of which have a well-developed dentition and are true predators. The five-meter skull of a sperm whale, the largest of the toothed whales, can be seen in the center of the hall. Sperm whales feed on fish and cephalopods, even attacking giant squids that can weigh more than 200 kg. In search of prey, these whales can dive to depths of more than 1800 m and remain under water for more than an hour. They navigate underwater using echolocation, emitting sounds of a special frequency and then perceiving them reflected from the bottom, prey or enemy. Next to the skull of a sperm whale is the skeleton of an orca, or killer whale, as it is called. The gloomy glory of killer whales is obviously associated with their attacks on large marine mammals - seals, dolphins and baby baleen whales, although they more often feed on fish and cephalopods. At the same time, like other species of dolphins, killer whales tolerate captivity well, are well trained and quickly get used to humans. The skeleton of a narwhal, or unicorn, deserves special attention. This large (up to 6 m in length) toothed whale, which lives in polar waters, is famous for the fact that in the male’s mouth there is a single helical tooth, reaching 3 m in length. Its purpose is still unclear and causes controversy among scientists. Until recently, products made from narwhal bone – “fish tooth” – were highly valued, and sometimes they were given magical meaning.
In addition to various species of whales, in Hall I you can see stuffed representatives of another order of marine animals - pinnipeds. Unlike cetaceans, these animals did not completely lose contact with land - perhaps because they mastered the aquatic environment 30 million years later. Modern pinnipeds, or seals, are divided into two main systematic groups, differing not only in appearance, but also in biological features - eared and true seals; A family of walruses stands somewhat apart from both. Walruses are the largest of the seals in the northern hemisphere, and are second in size only to the elephant seals that live off the coast of Antarctica, reaching a weight of 3.5 tons. There, in Antarctic waters, lives the leopard seal - the only seal that preys exclusively on warm-blooded animals; A beautifully crafted stuffed animal of this animal can also be seen on display.
Currently, most marine mammals, especially whales, have become extremely rare in nature due to excessive fishing. Such endangered or threatened species are included in the Red Book, first compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1948. Their extraction, including for scientific purposes, is prohibited by legislation in most countries. And although in the halls of the museum you can see many exhibits with the “Red Book” icon on the label, it should be borne in mind that at the time when the main collections were collected, many of the rare or now extinct animals were quite common and even numerous.
The systematic exhibition, located on the left side of the third hall of the museum, demonstrates the main diversity of the class of mammals. On the wall at the entrance to the hall there is an evolutionary tree reflecting modern ideas about the origin and systematics of this group of animals, and next to it there is a stand describing the distinctive features of their structure and biology.
The exhibition begins with monotremes - an ancient group of mammals, which includes two modern families, platypuses and echidnas, combining the features of primitive mammals and reptiles. A distinctive feature of these creatures is that, unlike all other mammals, they lay eggs covered with a dense shell, but not hard, like that of birds, but elastic, like that of turtles or crocodiles. In order to hatch an egg, the echidna places it in a special fold of skin on its stomach - a pouch, where after 7 - 10 days a small cub hatches. In contrast, the female platypus makes a real nest in a specially dug hole, where she lays from 1 to 3 eggs. The cubs born in such an unusual way are fed by these animals with milk secreted in certain areas of the abdominal part of the female body, called the glandular fields. At the same time, the biology of these animals is different: the echidna leads an exclusively terrestrial, nocturnal lifestyle, feeding on termites and other insects, the platypus looks for prey in the water - these are, first of all, various small aquatic animals, which it selects from the silt with its “beak”.
Echidnas and platypuses are native to Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. Representatives of another systematic group of animals, marsupials, numbering seven separate orders, are also common there. The modern distribution of marsupial mammals is limited mainly to the southern hemisphere, but their fossil remains are known not only from Australia, South America and the Antarctic coast, but also from Mongolia and China. Unlike monotremes, marsupials give birth to live young, but they are so tiny and underdeveloped that they must remain in the mother’s pouch for a long time. The museum contains representatives of almost all orders of this group, among which there are rare and recently extinct animals, such as the marsupial wolf or the hare kangaroo. Perhaps the most popular of Australian animals - the marsupial bear, or koala - can be seen on the branches of a eucalyptus tree in a separate display case. Koalas feed exclusively on eucalyptus leaves, which no other animal is able to eat, since they contain a strong poison - hydrocyanic acid. This animal has no enemies in nature, and the main reason for the catastrophic decline in its numbers in nature is hunting and clearing of indigenous eucalyptus forests. Currently, several special reserves have been created to preserve the marsupial bear. Equally rare is one of the few marsupial predators - the Tasmanian devil. Currently, it survives only on the island of Tasmania, although it formerly inhabited most of Australia. This predator hunts quite large prey, attacking, among other things, domestic sheep. Obviously, it was this last circumstance that led to a sharp decrease in the number of marsupial devils. An even sadder fate befell the largest marsupial predator, the thylacine, or Tasmanian wolf. The last time marsupial wolf tracks were seen was more than 50 years ago, and since then there has been no evidence that the species has survived. Even in the largest museums in the world, skeletons or stuffed thylacines are very rare, so the exhibits on display are the pride of our collection. In addition to the well-known giant kangaroos and wallabies, it is worth paying attention to the small animals displayed on the side of the display case. These opossums are the only marsupials found outside the Australian continent. Most possums live in Central and South America, but some species can travel quite far north. Opossums adapt well to any living conditions, and in the southern states of the United States, for example, they feel great on the outskirts of villages and small towns. The exhibits presented in the collection have another value - many of them, such as the southern and ash possums, were collected by the great Russian traveler and collector G.I. Langsdorf almost 200 years ago.
The entire subsequent part of the exhibition is devoted to the so-called higher mammals, which make up the absolute majority of this class of animals. It is discovered by exotic inhabitants of Central and South America - armadillos, anteaters and sloths belonging to the order of edentates. Armadillos are the only animals whose body is covered with a durable shell, consisting of integumentary ossifications and horny plates. These nocturnal, practically omnivorous animals live mainly in open places, where they dig numerous burrows. In case of danger, they roll up into a ball or, almost instantly, bury themselves in the ground. Typically, a female armadillo gives birth to several twins, developing from one egg, so the babies are always of the same sex. The museum's exhibition presents almost all the main types of armadillos, many of which are now rare in nature. Unlike armadillos, sloths that live in the tropical forests of South America spend almost their entire lives in trees, an example of extreme specialization for an arboreal lifestyle. They move, clinging to tree branches with powerful claws, and in the same state they rest and even sleep. Sloths are really sedentary and “leisurely”, since they do not have to use practically any effort to get food, and they have practically no enemies in the treetops. However, if necessary, these animals can descend to the ground, they swim perfectly, and their powerful claws, in case of danger, can become a serious weapon. The last of the families of edentates, anteaters, living in the forests and pampas of South America, are interesting for their specialization in feeding only on termites and ants. Only sometimes tree anteaters - tamaduas - diversify their diet by eating wild bees and wasps. Many exhibits from this exhibition are of not only zoological, but also historical value, as they were collected during the expeditions of Academician G.I. Langsdorf at the beginning of the 19th century.
Not only anteaters prefer termites and ants, which is explained by the abundance and availability of this type of food. In the same display case you can see animals living in Africa and Southeast Asia - these are representatives of the order of pangolins, or lizards, as they were previously called for their peculiar appearance. The body of pangolins is entirely covered with horny scales, and they really resemble some kind of ancient reptile rather than a mammal. These animals search for food - ants and termites - at night and, like anteaters, obtain food with the help of a long sticky tongue. All pangolins are not numerous; some especially rare species are listed in the Red Book.
A separate exhibition is dedicated to small insectivorous animals - well-known hedgehogs, moles, shrews, and less familiar species - tenrecs living in Madagascar, African jumpers, and slittooths. Until recently, all these animals were combined into one large order of insectivorous mammals, but recent studies have shown that, despite their external similarity, these animals come from different ancestors. It is among the insectivores that the smallest mammal on the planet is found - the dwarf shrew, whose weight does not exceed 2 grams. Snaptooths, ancient and very rare in nature, are interesting because they are the only mammals with poisonous glands. The venom of the slittooth is not dangerous for humans, but for its victims - insects and small vertebrates - it has a strong paralyzing effect. The stuffed slittooth presented in the museum’s exhibition is one of the first to fall into the hands of European scientists in 1828. There is also another interesting animal on display – the Russian muskrat. Despite the fact that the muskrat is the closest relative of moles, its entire life is connected with water. The beautiful fur almost caused the complete extermination of the muskrat, but timely measures taken to protect this rare species made it possible not only to preserve it, but also to significantly increase the size of the natural population. In the same display case you can see small animals that live in Southeast Asia - these are tupai. Outwardly, they look like slender, pointy-nosed squirrels. The English name for tupaya is tree shrew, and, indeed, scientists used to classify them as insectivores. However, recent genetic studies have shown that tupai are located on the same family tree with primates and woolly wings, being our very ancient relatives.
In the wall display cases of the hall there is an exhibition of bats - the only order of mammals that have mastered active flight. Along with rodents and insectivores, bats and fruit bats are the largest group among mammals. Fruit bats are the largest of the order and live only in the eastern hemisphere, from Africa to the islands of Oceania. These are exclusively herbivorous animals, whose main food consists of fruits, nectar and pollen. In areas where fruits ripen only periodically, fruit bats make seasonal migrations of hundreds and thousands of kilometers, such as the flights of the East Australian flying fox or the epaulette fruit bat in southern Angola. Unlike fruit bats, smaller bats are predators and feed primarily on flying nocturnal insects. The animals are active at dusk and at night. In order to navigate in the dark and catch fast-flying prey, bats use their unique ability of echolocation. With the help of reflected ultrasound, animals not only distinguish what exactly is in front of them, but also at what distance. Not all bats hunt moths and beetles - large bats can prey on small reptiles and mammals; In Mexico, bat fishermen live, snatching small fish from the water, and, finally, in South America there is a whole family of vampire bats. They feed on the blood of animals, using sharp teeth like a scalpel, cutting the skin of large mammals and licking the resulting drops; at the same time, the vampire’s saliva makes the bite painless and prevents the blood from clotting.
More than 2,250 species include the largest order of mammals, rodents; this is approximately 40% of all mammals living on the planet. This success can be explained by several reasons: the small size of the animals, the short life cycle and the evolutionary youth of the group, which gives rodents almost unlimited opportunities to adapt to any living conditions and occupy almost all possible ecological niches. Gophers, mole rats and mole rats live underground; dormice, squirrels and flying squirrels - in the trees; jerboas and gerbils have colonized waterless sandy deserts; muskrat, nutria and beaver, on the contrary, have perfectly adapted to living in an aquatic environment. In many natural ecosystems and in anthropogenic, especially agricultural landscapes, rodents play a leading role. Gophers, hamsters and gophers dig up pastures with their burrows; voles and mice eat crops; beavers flood thousands of hectares of forest, radically changing the habitat; voles, rats and gerbils are carriers of dangerous diseases such as plague and tularemia. At the same time, in natural ecosystems, rodents are often one of the main environment-forming components. The largest rodent in the world is the capybara, or capybara, which lives in South America, weighs more than 60 kg, the smallest is the tiny mouse - only 5 - 6 g. Many rodents - chinchillas, beavers, squirrels, marmots - have thick, beautiful fur, because of which they are mined in nature or bred on special farms. The exhibit of rodents presented at the Zoological Museum is truly unique. Among the exhibits there are specimens from which scientists first described this species of animals more than 200 years ago (South American giara and kui, Brazilian porcupine, narrow-skulled vole), as well as exhibits collected by the great travelers of the past - G.I. Langsdorf, K.Ya. Temmink, I.G. Voznesensky, N.M. Przhevalsky and others.
Lagomorphs, located in neighboring display cases, were previously grouped together by taxonomists with rodents, but, despite their external similarity, these animals are so different from each other that they were subsequently separated into a separate order. Lagomorphs differ from rodents in their lifestyle, features of their anatomical structure, even in the number of incisors - there are not 2, but 4 of them in the upper jaw. This order includes hares, rabbits and pikas, or haymakers. All lagomorphs are terrestrial animals. Some species prefer vast open spaces, others live among dense thickets and rock formations, sometimes climbing high into the mountains. Hares and rabbits feed on low-calorie food, which usually does not attract rodents - mainly bark, young branches, leaves, and grass. Hares, as a rule, do not make special shelters and stay alone, while rabbits and pikas dig holes and settle in small colonies. Among the rare exhibits of this collection, it is undoubtedly worth mentioning the Ladakian pika and Kozlov’s pika, brought by N.M. Przhevalsky from Northern Tibet.
Two species of woolly winged lemurs, or flying lemurs as they are sometimes called, live in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. In appearance they resemble a rodent - a flying squirrel, but in origin they are close to primates. Woolly wings glide using a large, fur-covered membrane that connects the neck, all the legs and the tail. They feed on fruits and leaves. Females, like bats, do not leave their young for a minute; they carry them with them all the time until they become almost the size of an adult animal.
The oldest primates, similar to modern lemurs, were widespread in North America and Europe more than 60 million years ago, but to date only five families of these primitive monkeys have survived in the forests of Madagascar and the Comoros Islands. The most unusual representative of this group is undoubtedly the little arm, or aye-aye. Little arms are the rarest and most ancient of the lemurs. They live in trees, spend the day in a hollow or in a nest, and after sunset they wake up and begin to examine the branches in search of food - insect larvae, nuts or fruits. Having detected prey with the help of unusually acute hearing, the animal removes the larvae from narrow tree passages with a very long, thin third finger of the hand, equipped with a sharp curved claw. The next group, traditionally belonging to the suborder of lower monkeys, is the Loriids. This includes the loris proper, which lives in Southeast Asia, as well as the potto and galago, which live in tropical Africa. All these animals live in trees, are nocturnal, feeding on insects and, to a lesser extent, plant foods. But there are differences between them. While lorises and pottos are prone to a solitary lifestyle, slow and extremely careful in their movements, galagos prefer to live in groups, and when hunting or chasing strangers they can jump up to 12 meters. There are currently only three species in the tarsier family living in the Malay Archipelago, but in the Eocene, about 45 million years ago, similar forms were common in Europe and North America. According to modern taxonomy, these monkeys are classified as higher, although until recently they were combined with lemurs and lorises. Huge eyes, characteristic of all nocturnal animals, help the tarsier during the night hunt for insects.
All other monkeys, including anthropoids, are divided into two large systematic groups - broad-nosed, or New World monkeys, and narrow-nosed, living in Eurasia and the African continent. The nostrils of American monkeys are separated by a wide septum; Another distinctive feature is the long, prehensile tail, which performs a wide variety of functions. Among the broad-nosed animals there are no large species such as African baboons or great apes, but marmosets can undoubtedly be considered the smallest of the primates. Many exhibits in the collection of American monkeys - howler monkeys, sakis, koats - were collected at the beginning of the 19th century by the famous Russian traveler G.I. Langsdorf; some came here from St. Petersburg menageries or from private owners. Unlike the broad-nosed monkeys, the lower narrow-nosed monkeys - monkeys, mangabeys, macaques - have tails that are never prehensile. A distinctive feature of most species of monkeys is their voluminous cheek pouches, which help them quickly collect large amounts of food. Thin-bodied monkeys (gwerets, langurs), which feed on low-calorie plant foods, do not have such bags, but their stomachs consist of three sections and have a complex structure. The most notable among the dog-headed monkeys are obviously the baboons. Inhabitants of foothills and open spaces, they have a very complex social hierarchy, allowing the herd to more successfully obtain food and resist numerous predators. Modern apes are represented by two families of tailless primates: gibbons and hominids. Fossil forms (Propliopithecus), which could give rise to the entire superfamily Hominoidea, are known from northern Africa and date back to the Lower Oligocene (about 25 million years). The museum's exhibition presents almost all representatives of this group - gibbons, chimpanzees, gorilla; The biogroup showing the orangutan family in their natural habitat is especially eye-catching. The stuffed adult monkeys displayed in this display case were obtained from the Stuttgart Museum at the end of the 19th century.
The next section of the exhibition is dedicated to sirenids - distant relatives of elephants and hyraxes, which, like whales and pinnipeds, have mastered the aquatic habitat. Currently, the order includes the families of dugongs and manatees - herbivorous animals that live in the coastal waters of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. An exhibit that is the pride of our museum is kept here - the skeleton of Steller's sea cow, donated to the museum by the Russian-American Company in 1857. This gigantic animal, reaching a length of 10 meters, was discovered by the expedition of Vitus Bering near the Commander Islands in 1741, and literally 30 years later it was completely exterminated. Nowadays, only a few incomplete skeletons and individual bones of these animals have been preserved in museums around the world.
Proboscis is a small order of mammals, currently numbering only 3 species of elephants belonging to two genera - Indian and African. This group is similar in origin to hyraxes and sirenians, and historically comes from Africa. The fossil ancestors of modern elephants, starting from the Eocene (more than 40 million years ago), inhabited almost all continents of the world, with the exception of Australia and Antarctica. The main distinguishing feature of the representatives of the order is a long, muscular trunk formed by an upper lip fused with the nose - a universal organ that elephants successfully use as a hand. Another unique feature of these animals is the molars that change throughout life, adapted for grinding coarse plant food. The Indian elephant on display is one of the oldest exhibits in our museum. Mammoths occupy a special place in the exhibition of proboscideans, and many exhibits in this section of the museum are truly unique (section Mammoth fauna)
Here you can also see hyraxes that live in Africa, Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula. For many millions of years, these marmot-like animals were the most numerous herbivores in Africa and the Middle East, until they gave way to more advanced ungulates. Modern representatives of the group include 4 species belonging to three genera - tree, mountain and Cape hyraxes. Mountain hyraxes are diurnal animals that live in large colonies in arid savannas and on mountain slopes; arboreal - stay alone or in small groups, and prefer to feed at night.
The aardvark, or aardvak, is the only living representative of the order Aardvarks. For a long time it was classified as belonging to the same family as the South American anteaters, but the similarity with them turned out to be superficial, associated with an adaptation to feeding on termites and ants. The origins of the aardvark remain unclear; it is probably close to sirens, hyraxes and proboscideans. The current distribution area of the species covers central and southern Africa, with the exception of tropical forests.
Representatives of one of the most ancient and primitive groups of equid mammals, tapirs, live in Southeast Asia and South America. Tapirs are inhabitants of swampy forests and bushes, usually located near water bodies. They swim and dive beautifully, searching for aquatic plants or hiding from enemies. The tapir's muzzle ends in a small movable proboscis formed by the nose and upper lip, which allows the animal to practically not appear on the surface. A separate exhibition is dedicated to rhinoceroses. The white rhinoceros, found in southern and central Africa, is the largest living land mammal after the elephant: older males can weigh more than 3 tons. Like the black rhinoceros, the white rhinoceros has two horns on its face, from which the animals got their name. All rhinoceroses are very rare in nature, especially the Sumatran and Javan ones, which live in Southeast Asia. Stuffed rhinoceroses were made more than 100 years ago, when these animals were common in the savannas of Africa: for example, the white rhinoceros is a trophy of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, obtained on a safari arranged for him by the King of Abyssinia. Horses are better adapted to life in open landscapes than other ungulates. Wild horses, which appeared more than 15 million years ago on the American continent and once lived throughout the plains of Eurasia, are now practically never found in the wild. A little over a hundred years ago, the great Russian traveler and naturalist, explorer of Central Asia N.M. Przhevalsky brought from an expedition to Dzungaria the skin of a wild horse, unknown to zoologists. A stuffed animal of this horse, which later received the name of its discoverer, can be seen in our museum. The African savannas are home to the well-known medium-sized striped horses - zebras. Initially, they were distributed throughout the continent, but in northern Africa they were exterminated already in ancient times. Of the three living zebra species, the mountain and desert zebras are rare, while the savannah is quite common. These animals live in small herds, sometimes forming significant aggregations together with wildebeest, giraffes and other African ungulates.
Unlike equid mammals, artiodactyls have an even number of toes. This large order includes such famous animals as pigs, antelopes, deer, rams, and bulls. The most common member of the pig family is the wild boar; Two more unusual species, the brush-eared pig and the warthog, are found in Africa, but the most exotic representative of this group is undoubtedly the babirussa, living on the island of Sulawesi. The upper jaw of this pig is decorated with long thin fangs that grow upward and break through the skin; in old males they bend so strongly that they practically form a ring. The peccaries that inhabit Central and South America are similar to pigs, but given their origin and some anatomical features, they are classified into a separate independent family. The hippopotamus, or hippopotamus, which lives in eastern and southern Africa, can reach a weight of 3 tons with a shoulder height of about 160 centimeters. All four toes of the hippopotamus have small hooves, and the toes themselves are connected by a membrane, because most of the life of this animal is spent in water. The hippopotamus can easily walk along the bottom of a shallow reservoir and swims and dives well. After sunset, hippos come ashore to feed, and from generation to generation the animals use the same paths, trampling deep ruts, steps and ditches in the ground. However, few people know that the hippopotamus has a relative - the pygmy hippopotamus, which lives in the inaccessible jungles of Nigeria and Liberia. The weight of this animal does not exceed 250 kilograms, and its height is only 70 centimeters. Along with such giants as hippopotamuses, among the artiodactyls there are also very tiny animals, for example, deer, barely reaching the size of a hare. They do not have horns, but males have large, protruding, sharp fangs in the upper jaw. In contrast, male true deer grow new antlers every year. The exhibition presents many species of these animals, but the most interesting among them are the white-lipped and Alashan deer, hunted by N.M. Przhevalsky, as well as the North American white-tailed deer brought from California by I.G. Voznesensky. The most numerous group among artiodactyls are bovid animals: bulls, antelopes, goats and rams. The horns of these animals grow throughout their lives, but they are empty inside and seem to be mounted on the bony base of the skull. The museum's collection includes many stuffed ungulates: Philippine and African buffalos, bison and bison, yaks brought from Tibet by N. M. Przhevalsky, a large number of species of antelopes and gazelles from Africa and Southeast Asia. Many of the ungulates, such as duikers, bezoar and Nubian goats, European mouflon, goral, are currently rare in nature and are included in the Red Book. The small suborder Callosidae includes Old World camels and llamas, or humpless camels, found in South America. The ancestors of callosopods appeared more than 40 million years ago in North America, from where they subsequently spread to Asia, North Africa and Europe, as well as to South America. Now only one wild species (the Bactrian camel) is found in remote areas of Central Asia and two (guanaco and vicuna) in South America. As for the dromedary camel, llama and alpaca, they are known only in their domesticated state. In the exhibition you can see all these animals, but especially interesting are the wild camels brought from Mongolia by N.M. Przhevalsky. Only two species include another family of artiodactyls - giraffidae. About 20 million years ago, the ancestors of giraffes inhabited vast areas of Europe, Asia and Africa, but then their range sharply decreased. In the museum's display cases you can see both living species - the steppe and forest giraffe, or okapi. Okapi is probably one of the rarest species of ungulates; its discovery in 1901 created a real sensation among scientists.
The exhibition ends with a collection of carnivorous mammals. Predatory animals live on all continents except Antarctica, and inhabit all landscapes, from the ice fields of the Arctic to sandy deserts. They are extremely diverse in behavior, hunting methods and size: from the tiny weasel, which weighs only 25 grams, to the polar bear, which reaches almost a ton in weight. The history of carnivores began more than 60 million years ago, when a family of primitive marten-like predators, the miacids, formed. But only 30 million years later, this group took a dominant position among other terrestrial carnivores, and seven main families of carnivores emerged that make up the modern order. Probably the most versatile predators are wolfs, which include wolves, foxes, jackals and wild dogs. Most often, wolves live and hunt in packs, which among hyena dogs living in the savannahs of Africa can number up to 60 animals. However, among them there are also loners, such as the maned wolf - an inhabitant of South America, foxes or arctic foxes. The most numerous group of carnivores are mustelids. This family includes more than 50 species, including the well-known weasel, ermine, marten, badger and many others. Perhaps the most unusual of them is the sea otter, or sea otter, which lives in the northern waters of the Pacific Ocean. Sea otters live in small groups near the coast, where there are small bays, rocks and dense thickets of algae. They usually lie on the surface of the water for a long time, on their backs, resting or feeding; Females hold small cubs on their chests. The sea otter's fur is very thick and durable, which is why this animal was actively hunted. Now, as a result of protection, its number has increased noticeably, but still the sea otter is a rarity. Unfortunately, the situation with the sea otter is no exception: as a result of constant persecution, approximately 40% of mustelids are listed in the Red Book, although on average, for other families, this figure is about 15%. Endangered species include the Colombian weasel, European and Indonesian mink, and the giant otter; animals such as the sea mink and the black-footed ferret disappeared already in historical times. Another rare animal presented in the museum’s exhibition is the bamboo bear, or giant panda. It lives in the mountain forests of Southern China. The unusual black and white color of the fur, oddly enough, does a good job of camouflaging this slow-moving animal both in the summer, among thick bamboo stems, and in the winter on the snow. The campaign to save the giant panda was one of the first tasks of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, founded in 1948, and the image of this bear became the symbol of the organization itself. The remaining representatives of the bear family, with the exception of the brown one, are also few in number, which is associated both with the destruction of their habitats and with direct persecution by humans. The most specialized predators adapted for active hunting are felines. Distinctive features of this family are retractable claws and an extremely specialized dental system, especially pronounced in the saber-toothed cats, or mahairods, which became extinct about a million years ago. The largest number of cat species live in South America and Southeast Asia, and only a few, such as the lynx and puma, go far north. The largest of the wild cats is the tiger; it once lived on a vast territory from Transcaucasia to the Far East, but now its range has been catastrophically reduced, and many subspecies, such as the Turanian tiger, remain only in museum exhibitions. Noteworthy is the masterfully executed biogroup, representing two Amur tigers. It was made by an unknown artist about 200 years ago to decorate the halls of the Winter Palace, and in 1874 it was donated to the museum by Emperor Alexander II. At the end of the exhibition is a large diorama representing a pride of lions resting. By the way, lions are the only cats that form such groups; other species prefer to survive and hunt alone. Another exception within the family concerns not social organization, but the method of hunting - we are talking about the cheetah. This unique predator is the only one of the cats that does not lie in wait, but drives its prey. This specialization allowed the cheetah to become the fastest mammal on earth - its throwing speed can reach 110 km/h. Concluding a far from complete review of the exhibition of predatory mammals, it should be noted that the greatest zoologists and travelers of the 19th century participated in its creation. Thus, the steppe cat was obtained by N.A. Severtsev, the red lynx, coyote, Laplat otter - by I.G. Voznesensky, manul - by E.A. Eversman, jaguarundi, maned wolf and small fox were brought from South America by G.I. Langsdorf , and the food-eating bears and the Tibetan fox were delivered by N.M. Przhevalsky.
Do you know that in Moscow there is a house on which “our everything” - Pushkin, Gogol and Tolstoy - are depicted in an ambiguous and... um... frivolous environment? This house is known to many who walk the Arbat lanes, but few people peer at the crumbling bas-reliefs. I didn’t look closely until I learned interesting details.
House 4/5 on Plotnikov Lane was built for the homeowner G.E. Broido according to the design of the architect N.I. Zherikhov, in 1907. The author of the sculptures is presumably L. S. Sinaev-Bernstein.
According to one version, the sculptor was commissioned to display the frieze “Parnassus” for the Museum of Fine Arts on Volkhonka. It originally depicted a procession of 50 figures, including writers, artists and scientists from different countries. They were heading towards Apollo, who was distributing wreaths of glory. Among them were Russian writers, depicted in ancient clothes, in the arms of muses (for example, in the top photo, apparently, Pushkin and Gogol looking at him condemningly). However, the sculptural composition was rejected by the customer, who considered it too frivolous, and somehow some of the figures ended up on an apartment building in Plotnikov Lane.
According to another version, before the revolution the building was a brothel, and writers were frequent guests of the establishment.
A reliable fact is that today the bas-reliefs are in terrible condition, they are gradually being destroyed, and some of the figures are so sad to look at that I did not post photos.
So let's see while there's still something to be had. And at the same time - another unusual building opposite the “house with bas-reliefs” and several atmospheric autumn photos from Gagarinsky Lane.
Oh, these Arbat lanes... On the way to the house in Plotnikovo
General view from Plotnikov Lane
General view of the figures from Maly Mogiltsevsky Lane
An ordinary house above Leo Tolstoy (by the way, it is believed that this is his first lifetime sculptural image) is an ordinary balcony.
Leo Tolstoy hugs Pushkin
The figures are repeated, here is another Gogol
Who is there to the right of Tolstoy??
A copy of the composition from the top photo - but on another wall of the building
And on the other side of Plotnikov Lane there is such a charming mansion (this is the side facing Glazovsky Lane). I thought it was a well-restored modern, but it turned out that the construction date was the second decade of the 21st century. This is a five-apartment PlotnikoFF club house, the construction of which was recently completed. Well, I think the stylization is not bad...
And just a few autumn photos from Gagarinsky Lane. I managed to photograph the last good days...
I propose to look at the museums of our capital not only as repositories of exhibits, but also as architectural objects. Let's start with one of the oldest - the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University, located on Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 2
Zoological Museum building
The official history of the Zoological Museum is usually counted from the formation of the Cabinet of Natural History in 1791. The first collection was based on donations from representatives of the Demidov dynasty, then there were gifts from Catherine the Second, Alexander the First, and Princess Dashkova. Almost the entire priceless collection was lost in a fire in 1812; only part of the sea shells was saved. Thanks to numerous donations, the collection was restored again. During the 19th century, it was located in different university buildings on Nikitskaya Street, until in 1898-1902 a separate building was built specifically for the Zoological Museum
Facade of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University, facing Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street
The author of the project was academician of architecture, chief architect of Moscow University Konstantin Mikhailovich Bykovsky. In total, he built several buildings for the university on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. The style of the Zoological Museum building can be described as restrained eclecticism based on classicism. The first floor of the building along the entire facade is highlighted with decorative rustication, i.e. facing with quadrangular, tightly fitted stones, in this case with a pyramidal surface treatment
The building's plan has the shape of an angle and is located on one arm along Bolshaya Nikitskaya, and on the other along Nikitsky Lane. The architect beautifully solved the problem of balancing the facades and placed the main entrance from a cut corner. Under the roof along the entire facade of the building there is a stucco frieze, in which, in addition to plant garlands, you can see many animals: squirrels, bats, various reptiles, herons, owls and other birds, the heads of bears, hares, wolves, mountain goats and other pairs. and equids
There is a semicircular niche on each of the museum's facades. Based on the traditions of classicism, according to which the building was designed, I am not sure that it was supposed to have a window, as is the case now, but with a much greater degree of certainty we can assume that a niche was intended for a statue, most likely an allegorical one, of one of the cohorts of patron gods of science and knowledge
The building looks very interesting from the courtyard: the decor of the facade is made as carefully as from the street, only it is not plastered or painted
It is interesting that until 1953, part of the current premises of the museum was residential; the apartments of professors of the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University were located there. I. Mandelstam, M. Bulgakov, V. Kandinsky, R. Falk visited the professors. It was here, within the walls of the Zoological Museum, in 1931 that Mandelstam wrote the famous: “It’s all just nonsense, sherry brandy, my angel...”. And Professor Alexey Severtsov served Bulgakov as a prototype for the famous Professor Persikov, the hero of the story “Fatal Eggs”. Here, in one of the modest rooms, in the summer of 1940, Marina Tsvetaeva and her son were sheltered, who had nowhere to go after being evicted from Golitsyno.
Halls of the Zoological Museum
In total, the museum has three exhibition halls on two floors. The halls are located in that part of the building that stretches along Bolshaya Nikitskaya. Along Nikitsky Lane there are office premises and offices that are not accessible to visitors. The Lower Hall displays animals from single-celled animals to reptiles; this is where the largest number of exhibits are. Birds and mammals are shown in the Upper Hall. Also on the second floor is the Hall of Comparative Anatomy or the Bone Hall. Look how impressive the colonnade of the central passage of the Lower Hall looks
The capitals of the columns are decorated with curls of acanthus leaves intertwined with snakes
The old floor, lined with patterned Metlakh tiles, has been preserved here. In the passages, the tile pattern has been worn away by the feet of numerous visitors, but there are well-preserved areas with a clearly legible pattern
The upper hall immediately takes us back to the era of Art Nouveau, the construction of the Eiffel Tower and the first skyscrapers, when they loved to emphasize structural elements
Feel the rhythm of the steps and railings, the laconicism of the beams, the appropriateness of the rivets
Staircase of the Upper Hall leading to the gallery balconies
Along the side walls of the Upper Hall on the second floor there are gallery balconies, which are supported by brackets in the Art Nouveau style.
These side balconies are not accessible to visitors, but sometimes on Museum Days tourists are taken to this bridge, thrown from one wall to another
The floor in the Bone Hall is so cheerful
In the Bone Hall, you should also pay attention to the picturesque frieze on the history of the living world of the Earth. This is the work of the founder of Russian animal painting, artist Vasily Vatagin, who worked at the Zoological Museum for thirty years and was also at the origins of the Darwin Museum
The value of V. Vatagin’s work lies in the exceptionally correct biological drawing, in the skill of scientific illustration, as close as possible to the original and at the same time enriched with artistic intent. In those days when the art and technology of photography had not yet reached its current heights, when there were no computer image processing programs, biological drawing was practically an integral part of fundamental science. It turns out that until now, artistic illustrations, for example, in bird guides, are of much greater value than photographs, because very few photographs have an angle that allows you to see all the necessary identifying features.
Vatagin’s works can be found throughout almost the entire exhibition of the Zoological Museum. Huge picturesque panels depicting the life of wildlife greet visitors already in the foyer and are a real calling card of the museum.
Paintings by V. Vatagin in the foyer of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
Funds and exhibition of the Zoological Museum
It must be said right away that with the current level of transmission and preservation of images and with the opportunity to travel around the world, the museum’s exhibits do not make a stunning impression and sometimes seem primitive. But the immeasurable scientific value of a museum is determined not by its entertainment value, but by the uniqueness of its holdings. The halls display only 14 thousand exhibits, while the scientific collections include about 8-10 MILLION (!!!) storage units. The collection of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is currently the second largest in Russia (after the Zoological Institute and the RAS Museum in St. Petersburg), and ranks approximately 13th in the world.
Moreover, the development of science does not detract, but only increases the value of what has been accumulated. For example, Austrian scientists recently approached the museum for samples brought by Przhevalsky's expedition for genetic comparison with the current inhabitants of the Asian steppes.
In the Zoological Museum, almost all exhibits are natural biological material. The museum does not exhibit plastic models as a matter of principle. There are only two exceptions. This is a model of single-celled animals that cannot be seen without a microscope - radiolaria, and a cast of coelacanth - a rare animal that was considered extinct, of which there are around 100 specimens in all museums around the world, and in our country there is a single specimen at the Institute of Oceanology. Forms of storage include both classic - dry and wet preservation, as well as new ones - tissue samples for DNA analysis, various decoding of the molecular level (genotypes, karyotypes, sequences, etc.), cryocollections, audio recordings of voices, etc. In wet storage at The racks store hundreds of thousands of jars, vials and other thick glass vessels with ground-in stoppers, additionally sealed with films made from bull bladders or more modern materials. Despite all the tricks, alcohol from bubbles and cans gradually evaporates, so it has to be topped up regularly
Among the scientific premises there is a so-called “kozheednik” or, scientifically, “dermetarium”, where animal skeletons are cleaned by skin beetles and where even employees are prohibited from entering. The building of the Zoological Museum has extensive cellars. In that basement, under Nikitsky Lane, there was a bomb shelter with a high degree of autonomy: sealed steel doors with bolts, like in a bunker. In the other direction, the dungeon goes towards the Kremlin, but not far: the passage is blocked with brickwork. The described basements, storage rooms and rooms for scientists are not accessible to visitors, but next I want to tell you what is worth paying attention to in the museum’s halls. In this narrow corridor of the second floor, do not pass by one of the most unusual exhibits
This is an image of the coat of arms of the Russian Empire, which at first glance seems to be embroidered with multi-colored beads and seed beads, but in fact it is made of more than 5,500 specimens of beetles and 20 types of butterflies. This applique painting is almost 180 years old; it was donated by the original Slovenian entomologist Ferdinand Jozsef Schmidt. In Soviet times, the coat of arms was hidden in storage rooms. The painting was restored three times, selecting lost insects of the same size and color, and if initially it consisted of specimens of the ethnofauna of the Balkans, now it is almost entirely of Russian species
A stuffed rhinoceros, or rather a rhinoceros, is of not only scientific, but also historical value. The animal itself was purchased in 1862 in Calcutta and transported to Moscow. They named her Semiramis, and the servant who looked after her gradually renamed her Monka. A noteworthy story is how Monka-Semiramida walked across Moscow for half a kilometer when it was necessary to transfer her from a temporary place to a permanent one in the Zoo. The gendarmes blocked the traffic, about 20 workers were gathered to hold the rhinoceros on a chain, and a heavy log was also tied to the chain. But Monka ran, broke the chain and was stopped only by a piece of bread. So, after feeding her about 11 kg of bread, they brought her to the Zoo. She lived there for 24 years, and after her death she donated two exhibits to the Zoological Museum: a stuffed animal in the Upper Hall and a skeleton in Kostny. Previously, the scarecrow stood in the passage and there are still legends that not only students, but also luminaries of Russian science jumped over it - not across, but along (!)
In general, many inhabitants of the Moscow Zoo ended up in the museum’s exhibition after death: these are giant pandas, an Indian elephant, a lion (a gift to J. Stalin from D. Nehru), several species of monkeys and birds
And the stuffed hippopotamus was most likely made right in the exhibition hall, since due to its size it does not fit through the door leading into the hall. This exhibit was used in Eldar Ryazanov’s film “Garage” - it was on it that the “luckiest” member of the cooperative, performed by the director, slept
On my own behalf, I would advise you to pay attention to the display case with birds of central Russia. You will be surprised to see the species diversity of the most familiar birds to us: sparrows, tits, buntings. And here you can find out the names of the birds that live next to us, in city parks and alleys
Everyone, of course, has their own sympathies in the animal world, but as a fan of insects, I can’t help but draw your attention to the stands with butterflies
In fact, out of the one and a half million animal species on Earth known to us, up to a million are insects - so this is their planet)). Look at these beautiful beetles - you just want to take them in your hands to feel their heaviness, their solid cast bodies and admire the impeccable perfection of nature’s creations
How to get to the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
The official address of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, building 2 (formerly building 6). It is in the very center of Moscow, on the corner of Bolshaya Nikitskaya and Nikitsky Lane, a 6-7 minute walk from the Okhotny Ryad metro station (exit to Tverskaya Street, to the Ermolova Theater):
It takes a minute longer to walk from the Lenin Biblioteki, Aleksandrovsky Sad and Arbatskaya Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line stations:
The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Thursdays until 9 p.m., but visitors are not allowed in an hour before closing. Monday is a day off. The last Tuesday of the month is sanitary day. Ticket price: full – 300 rubles, for schoolchildren, students, pensioners – 100 rubles.
The museum offers dozens of excursions for different ages. Their themes and order of design can be found on the official website of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. The museum has a biological lecture hall and a club for young naturalists.
The State Zoological Museum of Moscow State University on Bolshaya Nikitskaya is the largest exhibition center in the capital.
It gives you the opportunity to appreciate how diverse the animal world is - even on the bas-reliefs on the façade there are images of animals, and the museum’s logo is a muskrat animal. This is an amazing building, full of the most amazing specimens of the fauna of our planet. I can’t even describe what it’s like to be in such a place... It’s better to see with your own eyes.
The building is located in the city center. Official information can be found on the museum website.
History of origin
It was founded in 1791. At first, at the capital’s university there was a small office where natural history was studied. In fact, a small exhibition was created here a third of a century later, and it was called the “mineralogy cabinet.”
But when biological specimens were presented among the exhibition specimens, they were used to create a natural history cabinet. The head of the department was Ivan Andreevich Sibirsky.
It is important to know: P.G. made a great contribution to the formation of exhibits. Demidov, who at the beginning of the 19th century donated magnificent exhibits and a library to the center.
The first inventory of the new property dates back to 1806-1807. But a fire in 1812 caused great damage to the complex, its property was almost destroyed.
G.I. Fisher began active restoration; he attracted a large number of collectors and naturalists, and after some time the fund consisted of six thousand exhibits. And six years later, the center’s property doubled.
By the beginning of the 30s. In the 19th century, the collection volume consisted of 25 thousand items. The building on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street was built at the beginning of the 20th century. The project for it was developed by K.M. Bykovsky. And by the 30s. last century, the institution was transferred to the Biological Faculty of Moscow State University.
Exhibitions
The exhibition in this case represents almost ten thousand copies. It begins with single-celled organisms, shown through artificial modeling, and ends with large reptiles and bison.
The main exhibition provides an opportunity to get acquainted with animals from all over the world and is organized according to class method (starting from the protozoa and gradually moving to the order of vertebrates).
The lower hall, located on the 1st floor, displays a wide variety of animals. Visitors can see here both a single-celled organism and a large reptile.
The number of exhibits is so huge that you could spend several days exploring. The 2nd floor is occupied by the upper hall, which is completely “populated” by birds and mammals. There is also a Bone Hall here. The exhibition in this case provides an overview of the animals from the inside. Visitors here can see:
- mammoth skeleton;
- fake rhinoceros;
- fake elephant;
- fake hippopotamus;
- stuffed crocodile and boa constrictor.
For visitors who want to learn more about animals, the staff of the establishment organizes lectures. They are carried out taking into account children's age characteristics.
On weekends, fascinating lectures for children and parents are given by the Biolektorium. The lobby and exhibition spaces display paintings by famous animal painters. There are works here:
- V.A. Vatagina;
- N.N. Kondakova and others.
What interesting things you should know about the zoo museum:
- The symbol of the museum is the Russian muskrat, listed in the Red Book of Russia. She is depicted on the emblem;
- The entomology department has a collection of 4 million insect specimens;
- In addition to lectures, the institution’s staff conduct interactive classes for children of different age groups and organize children’s birthday parties;
- Every Saturday and Sunday “Biolectory” holds lectures for parents with children aged five years and older. The features and secrets of biology are presented here in an easy, relaxed manner;
- The museum has a “Scientific Terrarium” that introduces visitors to the peculiarities of the life of reptiles. The opening hours of the “Scientific Terrarium” are from 11.00 to 17.00 on weekends. You will need a separate ticket to visit it. The price of such a ticket includes not only an exciting narrative, but also the opportunity to hold rare animals in your hands;
Interesting fact: at the end of the last century, the institution was given the name Research Zoological Museum of Lomonosov Moscow State University. After numerous changes of status, this name is still valid.
- A youth club was organized for high school and college students; it is based on the original development of researcher E. Dunaev.
Address
The exhibition complex is located at the address: Moscow, Bolshaya Nikitskaya street, building 6. It is not difficult to find. It is located directly in the center of the capital.
Is it difficult to reach by public transport? Not at all - having taken the metro to the Library named after. Lenin" or "Okhotny Ryad", you need to head to house No. 6 on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street (this is the former Herzen Street). The location you are looking for is located nearby and can be reached in less than ten minutes.
Operating mode
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., it is open to visitors. Mondays only - days off. The last Tuesday of the month is also non-working.
Ticket prices
For adult visitors, the ticket price is 200 rubles. For school-age children, students and pensioners there is a discounted price of 50 rubles.
Children under seven years of age have the opportunity to visit exhibitions without tickets. This is also allowed for persons belonging to preferential categories.
If you come with the whole family or a group, you can book an excursion. For a group of 7 people it will cost 1,500 rubles.
If you arrive without a group, but want to ask for a guide, then just purchase a ticket for 250 rubles. for an adult and 100 rub. for a child and join any large excursion group.
Visitor reviews
The fact that this place is truly very interesting is evidenced by numerous positive reviews from visitors. Here are some of them:
- “I’ve lived in Moscow for almost 50 years, but this was my first time visiting the zoo museum. And I was pleasantly surprised. Everything turned out to be very educational. I recommend visiting, it won’t be a waste of time” Alexander, 48 years old, Moscow;
- “I went to the exhibition on the advice of friends, and did not regret it at all. The exhibition turned out to be simply unique. Allowed to take free photos” Anastasia, 45 years old, Reutov;
- “I brought my seven-year-old daughter to the Zoological Institute. To make the excursion more interesting, we hired a guide. The child received a lot of impressions, especially impressed by the exhibition of animal skeletons” Lydia, 36 years old, Balashikha;
- “We came to get acquainted with zoology with our three children (9, 7 and 5 years old), we left the car in the parking lot. The establishment pleased me with its excellent exhibits and cleanliness. The whole family had great fun, the children were delighted with the starfish, the she-wolf with her cubs, the squirrel and the big sea turtle.” Evgeniy and Svetlana, Yegoryevsk, Moscow region;
- “The zoo museum has an exhibition of sea mollusks, and my son is very interested in them. We can say that we came for this exhibition. Immediately on the spot we became interested in other exhibits and had a pleasant time. All the information turned out to be informative and interesting. The staff here is very well-mannered and polite. It turns out that on Sundays they hold special classes for schoolchildren, you should definitely attend these lectures.” Angelina, 36 years old, Moscow.
What excursions are held at the Zoological Museum, see the following video.
The zoological museum operating at Moscow State University is considered the oldest and largest in the capital. Here you can get acquainted with the huge variety of all modern animals living on our planet.
History of creation
Today, the zoological museum existing at Moscow State University is not only the largest in terms of the territory it occupies, but also the richest in terms of the volume of funds after a similar institution of a similar profile operating at the Russian Academy of Sciences. Truly unique specimens and rich scientific collections are collected here. The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street is one of the ten largest in the world.
In 1755, according to the decree of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Moscow Imperial University was founded. Today it is known as Moscow State University. The Zoological Museum was opened thirty-six years later. However, this does not prevent it from being considered one of the oldest Russian natural science centers.
Its history dates back to 1791. It was at this time that the Natural History Cabinet at Moscow State University was founded. A zoological museum was opened later on its base. Initially, the collection was replenished through private donations. The most significant was the collection from the Semiatichesky office and the P. Demidov museum. Very rare specimens of animals and plants, minerals, coins, etc. were collected here. Unfortunately, almost all museum exhibits of the Imperial University were destroyed during the fire of 1812.
Miraculously, only a few rare shells of mollusks and corals were preserved.
Branch
In the twenties, a zoological collection was separated from the partially restored office. It formed the basic basis of the museum of the same name. The latter was housed in the former Pashkov house, which was reconstructed into a classroom building for Moscow State University. The Zoological Museum was organized according to a systematic principle. This, according to the organizers, made it possible to illustrate as comprehensively as possible the entire natural evolution of animals.
Managers
From 1804 to 1832, the organization was headed by G. I. Fisher. He was an outstanding zoologist, a student of K. Linnaeus himself, who wrote the very first scientific works on the Russian fauna. In 1832, the first director of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University developed a project according to which he proposed organizing the institution entrusted to him according to the model of classical French, English and German analogues. However, his proposal was not accepted.
From 1837 to 1858 The zoological museum was headed by K. F. Roulier. Being the founder of the Russian ecological school, he focused on the domestic fauna - its study. Roulier attached great importance not only to the collection of serial materials on modern animals, but also fossils. Thanks to this concept, by the end of the fifties of the nineteenth century, the museum had accumulated more than sixty-five thousand exhibits.
Professor A.P. Bogdanov, who led it from 1863 to 1896, played an invaluable role in the development of this institution. It was they who divided the existing funds, separated exhibition, scientific and educational ones, and systematized accounting work. In 1866, the exhibition of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University was open for viewing, and by the end of the nineteenth century, according to statistics, up to eight thousand people visited it annually.
Moving to a new building
At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new building was built especially for the museum, which in those years was headed by Professor A. Tikhomirov. The project was made by academician Bykhovsky. The new building was located on the corner of Dolgorukovsky (formerly Nikitsky) lane and Bolshaya Nikitskaya street. It has remained in its original form to this day, without any structural changes.
In 1911, a new systematic exhibition was opened to the public in the upper hall. In the twenties of the last century, the building on Bolshaya Nikitskaya also housed work premises for employees of the Zoology Research Institute, and since 1930 - some divisions of the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University. The Zoological Museum was also included in its structure.
War years
In July 1941, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University on Bolshaya Nikitskaya was closed for obvious reasons. Part of his scientific collections was evacuated to Ashgabat, and the rest were placed in the lower hall. Since March 1942, two halls on the second floor were reopened to the public, and after the end of the war, the lower level was also opened. The evacuated funds returned to their native land in 1943. The fifties of the last century were marked by the liberation of the museum building from the Faculty of Biology.
Halls of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
Today, visitors are presented with more than ten thousand exhibits illustrating the enormous diversity of the animal world of our planet. In the spacious halls of the museum, exhibitions are built systematically, according to evolutionary criteria and international zoological classification. This allows visitors to easily navigate through the sections of the rich collection. Miniature life forms, for example single-celled organisms, are represented in the museum by dummies.
The hall on the first floor contains most of the exhibits - from insects and shells to higher beings. Presented in the form of original dioramas, the exhibitions give visitors the opportunity to see representatives of the animal world - reptiles, amphibians, mammals, birds, etc. in their natural habitat. One of the rooms displays deep-sea life forms, as well as ocean floor ecosystems.
Top floor
The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov is a three-story building. Its halls are located on the first two. On the second floor there is the “Bone Hall”. It was given this name because it contains the skeletons of many animals belonging to various zoological orders. The upper hall today is completely dedicated to an exhibition telling about the huge variety of mammals and birds. Almost all the objects in this exhibition are stuffed animals, which were made by the best Russian taxidermists working at the end of the nineteenth and throughout the twentieth century. In both halls, exhibits are mainly placed in strict accordance with their systematic positions.
The symbol of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is a small animal, the muskrat. It is he who is depicted on the emblem. There is so much interesting in the museum that it is impossible to see everything in one day. One of the most recent exhibits is the hydrothermal vent community. Compared to other sections of the museum, it looks very unusual. The main object of this exhibition is not a specific systematic group, but different animals that together make up a common ecosystem that is “immersed” in the ocean. This is the only earthly system of its kind, which directly owes its existence on a planetary scale to processes occurring in the bowels of the earth.
Exhibits
A small number of stuffed animals are mounted along the central line of the upper hall. There are also thematic displays dedicated to birds - “Hunting with Birds of Falcon”, “Bird Bazaar”, “Birds of the Moscow Region”.
The Zoological Museum of Moscow State University carries out serious work, studying and systematizing knowledge about animals. Of the ten million exhibits available, only eighty percent are on display. Among them there are also unique representatives of the fauna, for example, the heaviest goliath beetle, etc.
The largest and most interesting exhibits of the museum, due to their substantial size, are presented in the lobby. One of them is a stuffed elephant, which lived in the Moscow Zoo in the post-war years. The second exhibit is the skeleton of a rare woolly mammoth - the last species to live on the planet. It has an interesting feature - a trace of a serious fracture of the skull bone. In addition to biological exhibits, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University has a good collection of paintings by animal artists.
Additional Information
The institution carries out active scientific work. Many famous scientists, including foreign ones, collaborate with the museum. He has a good library, which contains more than two hundred thousand volumes of literature and research related to biological topics. The museum organizes not only excursions for visitors of different ages, but also interactive classes for children from four to fifteen years old. Lessons are conducted according to the type of active communication. The museum constantly hosts themed children's parties: “Bird Day”, “Russian Muskrat”, etc. By the way, the last animal is, as already mentioned, a symbol of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University.
On weekends there is a scientific terrarium here. The museum contains numerous living reptiles. Visitors are allowed to feed the chameleons, hold an agama, and the terrarium staff will talk about the habits of their charges in a fascinating manner. The cost of a ticket to visit the museum for adults is two hundred, and schoolchildren, students and pensioners need to pay fifty rubles.
History of the museum.
Research Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov traces its ancestry to the Cabinet of Natural History, founded at the Moscow Imperial University in 1791. Initially, the Cabinet was replenished mainly through private donations: among the most significant are the collection of the Semiatic Cabinet of Natural History and the Museum of P.G. Demidova.
Almost all of the university's museum collections were lost in the Moscow fire of 1812; Only a small part of the corals and mollusk shells has survived. In the 20s, a zoological collection was separated from the restored Cabinet, which formed the basis of the museum of the same name, located in the new university classroom building (formerly Pashkov’s house). The principle of organization was systematic, intended to illustrate the natural system of animals. In 1822, the first inventory of the museum's collections was published, which included more than 1 thousand specimens of vertebrates and about 20 thousand specimens of invertebrate animals.
From 1804 to 1832 The museum was headed by the outstanding zoologist G.I. Fischer is a student of K. Linnaeus, the author of the first scientific works on the fauna of Russia. In 1832, he developed a project for organizing the Russian Museum of Natural History in Moscow, modeled on the classical national museums of France, England and Germany. However, this project was not accepted (there is still no museum of this type in Russia).
In 1837-1858 the museum was headed by K.F. Roulier is the founder of the Russian school of ecologists. He paid his main attention to the study of domestic fauna and attached great importance to the collection of serial materials, not only on modern, but also on fossil animals. Thanks to following this concept, by the end of the 50s. the museum has already accumulated more than 65 thousand copies.
Prof. played a major role in the development of the Zoological Museum. A.P. Bogdanov, who led it from 1863 to 1896. During this period, the funds were divided into exhibition, educational and scientific, and systematic accounting work with them began. In 1866, the museum was opened as a public museum; by the end of the century, its exhibition was visited by up to 8,000 people a year.
In 1898-1901, especially for the Zoological Museum, which was headed by prof. A.A. Tikhomirov, 
according to the project of academician Bykhovsky, a building was erected on the corner of Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. and Dolgorukovsky (Nikitsky) lane, preserved without structural changes to this day. In 1911, a new systematic exhibition was opened to the public in the Upper Hall.
In the 20s, the building housed the working premises of the Research Institute of Zoology, Plavmornin, and from 1930 - services and divisions of the newly organized Biological Faculty of Moscow University, into the structure of which the museum itself was introduced. During these years (from 1904 to 1930) the museum was headed by prof. G.A.Kozhevnikov. Under him, zoological scientists were formed within the walls of the museum, whose works subsequently received worldwide recognition: specialists in invertebrate animals, Acad. L.A.Zenkevich, prof. Borutsky; entomologists prof. B.B.Roddendorf, prof. E.S. Smirnov; ichthyologist academician L.S. Berg; ornithologists prof. G.P. Dementyev, prof. N.A. Bobrinskaya, prof. N.A.Gladkov; theriologists prof. S.I.Ognev, prof. V.G. Geptner. In 1931, the Zoological Museum was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Museum Department of the People's Commissariat for Education (until 1939) and received the name "Central State Zoological Museum". The volume of scientific funds in the early 40s. reached 1.2 million copies.
In July 1941, all museum halls were closed. Part of the scientific collections was evacuated to Ashgabat, the rest were placed in the Lower Hall. In March 1942, both halls on the second floor were opened to the public, and in 1945, the lower floor was also opened. The evacuated funds were returned in 1943. In the 50s. The main event was the release of the museum building from the services of the Biological Faculty in connection with its move to the new building of Moscow State University on the Lenin Hills, which made it possible to significantly improve the placement of scientific collections.
In the 70-80s. (director O.L. Rossolimo) the museum has undergone a complete reconstruction. By freeing the “wings” of the building occupied by residential premises, the storage area was increased and the exhibition halls were unloaded.
The scientific part of the museum.
The scientific part of the museum currently includes 7 sectors: zoology of invertebrate animals, entomology, ichthyology, herpetology, ornithology, theriology, evolutionary morphology. The number of scientific staff is 26 people. Among them are the world's leading specialists in the taxonomy of individual taxa of shellless and testate mollusks, crustaceans, mites, Coleoptera and Diptera insects, gobiids, and desert rodents. The main direction of research is the analysis of the structure of taxonomic diversity, including systematics, phylogenetics, and faunistics. Developments in the field of theoretical taxonomy are underway. 
Every year the works of the museum are published under the general title “Research on Fauna” (34 volumes were published), scientific monographs are published (in recent years at least 20, including the fundamental summary “Mammals of Eurasia”), collection catalogs (primarily standard ones, also the Demidov collection mollusks), methodological manuals for their storage. With the support of the museum, 4 scientific journals in the field of zoology are published.
Museum funds.
In terms of the volume of funds, the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University is among the first ten largest museums in the world in this profile, and ranks second in Russia (after the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg). Its scientific collections currently include more than 4.5 million storage units. The annual increase in scientific collections is about 25-30 thousand units. xp, and a significant contribution is made by branch institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences of Problems of Evolution and Ecology, Oceanology, Geography, etc. The most extensive collections are entomological (about 3 million, of which over 1 million are beetles); The collections of mammals (200 thousand) and birds (140 thousand) are very significant. Of the regions, the Palearctic is most fully represented.
Of particular scientific importance is the collection of type specimens (about 7 thousand items), documenting the discovery of animal taxa new to science - species and subspecies, of which more than 5 thousand have been described based on the museum’s collections throughout its history.
Of great historical value are: a collection of mollusk shells that belonged to P.G. Demidov, with whom the Cabinet of Natural History began; G. Fischer's collection of insects, which served as the basis for his famous “Entomography”; a few exhibits of birds and mammals, which in the times of G. Fischer and C. Roulier were demonstrated in classes with students and public lectures (for example, the skull of a mountain gorilla, which has inventory No. 1); fees N.A. Severtsov and A.P. Fedchenko of the second half of the last century, who organized the first systematic studies of the mountainous territories of Central Asia.
Among the more recent acquisitions, the following are of great importance for systematics research: the world-famous collections of beetles V.I. Mochulsky and butterflies A.V. Tsvetaeva; a collection of terrestrial and marine invertebrates collected by Semper at the end of the last century in the Philippines and until recently considered lost; collections of mammals and birds from the Peruvian Amazon, Vietnam, Mongolia; oological collection of Palaearctic birds.
Library.
The museum's scientific library contains about 200 thousand items. mainly specialized publications on zoology. Among the particularly valuable are lifetime editions of the late 18th - early 19th centuries by C. Linnaeus, J.-B. Lamarck, G. Fischer. The attraction of the library is books and prints from the personal collections of zoologists S.I. Ogneva, N.I. Plavilshchikova, G.P. Dementieva and others.
Exposition.
The modern exhibition includes about 7.5 thousand exhibits. The general principle of its construction remains the same: two halls are dedicated to the systematic part, one to the evolutionary-morphological part. The Lower Hall houses invertebrates, fish, amphibians and reptiles. In the Upper Hall there are birds and mammals. The key concept of the systematic exhibition is to demonstrate the taxonomic diversity of the world's fauna. The purpose of the evolutionary exhibition is to demonstrate the operation of the basic laws and rules of macro-evolutionary transformations of morphological structures.
The exhibition displays mainly representatives of mass species. Along with this, there are also unique objects: for example, a complete skeleton of a Steller's cow, a stuffed passenger pigeon (both of these species were exterminated by humans 200 years ago). Among the exhibits that especially attract visitors are two stuffed giant pandas - one of the rarest animals, a collection of very bright and large tropical butterflies and beetles; finally, openwork skeletons of vertebrate animals made about 100 years ago.
The exhibition is based on natural objects: stuffed animals and skeletons of terrestrial vertebrates, complete specimens of fish, amphibians and aquatic invertebrates fixed in alcohol, dried and straightened insects. Elements of the landscape principle are also used: some objects are mounted on imitations of a natural substrate. Natural objects are accompanied by diagrams and texts containing information about the taxonomic position, distribution, features of biology and morphology, and the principles of operation of individual morphological structures.
Many stuffed animals and preparations are decades old. They were made by such outstanding taxidermists as F. Lorenz, and later - V. Fedulov, N. Nazmov, V. Radin.
The museum has an art fund that includes more than 400 drawings and paintings by outstanding Russian animal artists: V.A. Vatagina, A.N. Komarova, N.N. Kondakova, G.E. Nikolsky and others. Some of the paintings are on permanent display.
Working with visitors. Museum for children.
Scientific and educational work on the basis of the exposition is carried out by the excursion and exposition department with 10 employees. Every year, the museum's exposition is visited by 190-200 thousand people, about 1,700 excursions are organized on 15-18 topics.
The educational center "Planetarium" operates on the basis of the lecture hall. Lectures are developed and given by scientific experts in relevant fields of knowledge. Their topics cover biology, history, art, and architecture.
The museum runs a zoological club for high school students. Classes are held on the basis of the museum's stock collections, lectures on the evolution and biology of animals, and field trips.
The museum is open daily except Mondays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Address: 103009 Moscow K-9, st. Bolshaya Nikitskaya, 6.
Contact phone: 203-89-23.