Kids

Darwin Museum By Kimberly O’Haver

Issue 9 September 9 - October 7, 2004

	Wild and stuffed:darwin

About 10 minutes from the Akademicheskaya metro station, the Darwin Museum is a treasure trove of information about the natural world, with almost 400,000 specimens of plants, animals and fossils on display.

The sheer abundance of stuffed specimens makes the museum feel a bit like a taxidermist’s at times. However, the animals on display represent not only general species of birds, reptiles and mammals, but also those animals unique to Russia. Save for actually setting out on a trek through the Russian tundra or taiga, where else will you find specimens like the gigantic black Ussuriisk bear or the Yakutsk fox?

Interactive computers dot each exhibition hall, providing additional information about exhibits at the click of a mouse.

Other exhibits are devoted to explaining how animals have evolved to defend themselves or live in unique environments. Examples of animal defenses include the quills of a porcupine and the armor of an armadillo.

One hall is devoted to genetic mutations, with exhibits describing how genes combine to produce peculiar traits. Included here is the world’s largest collection of abnormally colored stuffed birds.

Those suffering from animal overload can move on to display cases showing the development of the microscope, the history of genetics, scientific theories of Ancient Greece and Rome, and the history of evolutionary theory, from Charles Darwin to the present.

To celebrate World Animal Day on Oct. 2, the museum is hosting a day of special events from 10:30am to 4pm. Festivities include games, a class in which participants make masks of their favorite animals, a pet drawing contest and a brief lecture on how to understand the language and gestures of animals.

Tours of the museum can be arranged in English, French and Italian. Admission is 40 rubles for adults and 15 rubles for children.