{"id":842,"date":"2015-11-26T13:31:50","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T11:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=842"},"modified":"2026-02-26T18:51:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T17:51:25","slug":"nhm-zoology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/nhm-zoology\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoological exhibits in the NHM"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/A-giant-panda.jpg\" alt=\"A giant panda\" class=\"wp-image-14878\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/A-giant-panda.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/A-giant-panda-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>The zoology galleries at the Natural History Museum (NHM) have an air of Victorian enthusiasm about them with their rows of wood and glass cabinets filled with specimens: as much a historical display as a natural historical one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A walk through the world of animals\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8230;from giant beetles to giant pandas<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Award-winning taxidermy displays<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Antique display cabinets have their own charm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Quick to get through as less additional info than on the ground floor<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Items may vary dependent on exhibitions and improvements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/natural-history-museum\/\">NHM tickets &amp; visitor information<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/nhm-geology-dinosaurs-prehistory\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"840\">Floor 1: geology, dinosaurs &amp; prehistory<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More than a stairs<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"332\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/nhminside.jpg\" alt=\"Inside the Naturhistorisches Museum\" class=\"wp-image-58696\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/nhminside.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/nhminside-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(More than just a set of steps. Press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You reach the second floor of the museum via a lift or up a wide staircase. Whereby the word &#8220;staircase&#8221; hardly does justice to its magnificence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Halfway up is a painting of Emperor Franz I. Stephan von Lothringen (1708-1765) surrounded by his <del>rap band<\/del>&nbsp;scientific advisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why Franz Stephan? Well, the husband of Empress Maria Theresa was a strong supporter of the sciences; his acquisitions and commissioned projects actually form the basis of the museum&#8217;s historical collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beetles galore<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"313\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/beetles.jpg\" alt=\"Sheet with Six Beetles, Pieter Holsteyn (I), c. 1620 - c. 1662\" class=\"wp-image-44829\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/beetles.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/beetles-300x188.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Go right at the top of the stairs and around past the caf\u00e9-restaurant to start with Gallery 21, which commonly hosts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/natural-history-museum\/#tickets\">small special exhibitions<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Galleries 22-24 then cover the simpler organisms, everything from corals to <em>Coleoptera<\/em> (beetles), with rows of specimens and wall-mounted educational displays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Discover, for example, the joys of parasitic worms; you might not want to look too closely at the preserved specimens. Not if you want a decent night&#8217;s sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or learn about sea silk made from mollusc secretions, said to be even finer than traditional silk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The poor molluscs had a hard time of it in the past: for example, thousands of sea snails valiantly gave their lives to supply enough purple dye to decorate just one Roman garment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be sure to look at the giant clam shell in Gallery 23. Their pearls can exceed 6kg.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/brownlow_fly_nhm.jpg\" alt=\"Sketch of a fly\" class=\"wp-image-81577\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/brownlow_fly_nhm.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/brownlow_fly_nhm-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(My sketch of a fly in the collections)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gallery 24 reflects the quote from biologist JBS Haldane, who figured that any creator must have&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8230;an inordinate fondness for beetles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>My highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vitrine 86: the Goliath and Hercules beetles (the names offer a clue to what you can expect)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vitrine 88: a whole slew of ladybird beetles showing the unexpectedly numerous spot combinations and designs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vitrine 90: more big beetles, including the Titan beetle and the over-sized mandibles on <em>Macrodontia cervicornis<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Vitrine 91 (the lower half): <em>Batocera<\/em> and <em>Rosenbergia<\/em> beetles that look like something lifted from the Alien films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Giant oversized insect models add another little shudder to those of us not totally comfortable with bugs and beetles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Achtung, sharks!<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/coelacanth.jpg\" alt=\"Coelacanth press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien\" class=\"wp-image-44834\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/coelacanth.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/coelacanth-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(A Coelacanth; press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rest of this floor covers vertebrates: fish, reptiles, birds, mammals and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most rooms feature an array of preserved specimens, but without the same degree of infotainment (or English) you see on the lower floor. Though each time I visit, the displays grow increasingly modern and bilingual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You have two options, I think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can pass fairly quickly through each room, pausing for a few highlights, and end with coffee and cake in the sumptuous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/nhm-cafe-shop\/\">cafe<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or you can take a more leisurely pace and absorb:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The historical context&#8230;old display cases and specimens of species that are no longer with us, reminding us of a time when the natural world seemed both robust and plentiful (and implicitly warning us that it is neither)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The rare art of taxidermy: watch out for a handful of scenes and poses that have won international prizes for their quality<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, Galleries 25 and 26 introduce sharks and fish, including a very rare West Indian Ocean coelacanth (<em>Latimeria chalumnae<\/em>), often described as a living fossil since this kind of fish was thought to have become extinct millions of years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Achtung, dragons!<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gavail.jpg\" alt=\"Gavail press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien\" class=\"wp-image-44835\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gavail.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gavail-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Gavail; press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reptiles and amphibians dominate Galleries 27 and 28. The highlights for me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A Komodo dragon: these lizards hunt deer and can reach up to 3m in size<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A huge 5.3m gavail or gharial (<em>Gavialis gangeticus<\/em>): a fish-eating crocodile from India<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Giant tortoises from the Galapagos islands<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The tortoises illustrate my point about the value of the historical context, since these animals are now extremely rare and heavily protected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the newer additions to this section is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/new-conservation-display-the-burmese-python\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"30077\">the display<\/a> with its important message about snakeskin products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Achtung, birds(?)<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/nhmdodo.jpg\" alt=\"Skeleton of a dodo\" class=\"wp-image-69975\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/nhmdodo.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/nhmdodo-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Skeleton of a Dodo; press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Next up are the birds, which grace Galleries 29-32. These range from songbirds to seabirds, prey to predator, the common to the (extremely) rare: around 2,500 are on display. My particular highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A shoebill (<em>Balaeniceps rex<\/em>) with its (surprise!) massive shoe-shaped bill<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A moa skeleton. Now extinct, the biggest species of these ostrich-like New Zealand natives could reach 3.6m in height<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A dodo skeleton. Not all the bones come from the same bird, but still&#8230;a dodo!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Look out for the prize-winning taxidermy displays here, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I once had the pleasure of a peek behind the scenes of the museum&#8217;s bird collection and the associated research initiatives: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/nhm-behind-the-scenes\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"52998\">see my impressions here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mammals and marsupials<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/apes.jpg\" alt=\"Four-handed animals Monogrammist A.K., 1875 - 1903\" class=\"wp-image-44828\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/apes.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/apes-300x237.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The remainder of the galleries (33-39) cover our furry (and not so furry) friends, like rodents, sea mammals, rhinos, zebras, goats, sheep, antelope, big cats, big bears, monkeys and apes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These specimens include some TV stars; the display cases feature in the popular period detective series, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/songsfilms\/vienna-blood-locations\/\">Vienna Blood<\/a>. One of the main characters &#8211; the English scientist, Amelia Lydgate &#8211; works in the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some rooms have more English than others and some also provide complementary displays. My highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The impressive sea creatures in Room 34. For example, view a fin whale skeleton, a narwhal skull, and a huge elephant seal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The same room features the skeleton of a Steller&#8217;s sea cow. Being large, slow and edible, the species succumbed to the traditional fate of large, slow and edible creatures: we hunted them to extinction (see the dodo, moa etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A preserved Javan rhino from 1801. Only a handful survive (in Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Who doesn&#8217;t love a panda bear? Sch\u00f6nbrunn Zoo also has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/schonbrunn\/zoo\/giantpandas\/\">pandas<\/a> for those who like their bears still breathing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And that brings you to the end of the museum&#8217;s permanent collections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The zoology galleries at the Natural History Museum (NHM) have an air of Victorian enthusiasm about them with their rows of wood and glass cabinets filled with specimens: as much a historical display as a natural historical one. More than a stairs (More than just a set of steps. Press photo \u00a9 NHM Wien) You [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14878,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88964,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions\/88964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}