Ural Natural History Museum

About museum

The natural science collection is the museum's oldest assemblage. It includes a rich herbarium, the foundation of which was laid at the end of the 19th century by members of UOLE who studied the Ural flora. The museum has a taxidermy collection containing mounted specimens of birds, reptiles and mammals from all corners of the globe, including exotic and rare species. The museum's holdings include an extensive entomological collection, a unique assortment of tropical sea shells, collections of corals and sponges, crustaceans and bird eggs. Dozens of species of fish, amphibians and reptiles are represented in the wet specimen collection. A significant part of the holdings consists of mineralogical and paleontological collections. The museum possesses a rich selection of Ural minerals and rocks, including copper, iron and manganese ores, coal, colored ornamental stones and gemstones, among them valuable specimens of topaz, aquamarine and beryl. The paleontological collection includes fossil and bone specimens from various geological epochs, from the Archean to the Quaternary period of the Cenozoic era. The fauna of the Ice Age is the most comprehensively represented.