Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Research museum in Vasilyevsky Island, Saint Petersburg, Russia
The Zoological Museum of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is a research facility on Vasilyevsky Island in Saint Petersburg. The collection spreads across several halls with thousands of preserved animals, from tiny insects to large marine mammals, arranged in glass cases and freestanding displays.
The collection split from the Kunstkamera in 1832 and formed part of a natural history institution. The building at University Embankment was occupied in 1896, and the halls opened for visitors five years later.
The name comes from the institute dedicated to animal research, which collects and studies species from around the world. Visitors walk past glass cases arranged by scientific classification, with specimens grouped by habitat and evolutionary relationships.
The halls span multiple floors, so starting from the lower levels and working upward helps avoid backtracking. Guided tours in several languages provide useful context for navigating the large collection.
One of the main halls displays the complete skeleton of the Adams Mammoth, recovered in Siberia in 1799. Nearby, a 27-meter-long blue whale specimen hangs across the room, suspended from the ceiling.
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