Entrance into Bratislava’s Natural History Museum was included with the Bratislava Pass, so this seemed a useful distraction on what was a very hot day with a hot weather warning. There were a few fans dotted about, likely as there wasn’t obvious air conditioning, that I frequently positioned myself near.
An exhibit about human evolution.
A bone with rickets. This blog never fails to offer exciting content.
And a dinosaur that I thought looked quite cute in its own way.
This is apparently the oldest common ancestor of today’s apes and humans, the primate Pierolapithecus catalaunicus from Catalonia in Spain which lived around 13 million years ago and had African ancestors.
A woolly mammoth and the museum explains that the word ‘mammoth’ comes from the Estonian language meaning ‘earth mole’, which other sources sort of confirm, with some saying that because the remains were found underground some people thought that the horns were for digging. I’m not entirely sure many people of however primitive an education thought that, but there we go, I’m not going to pick a fight with Estonian linguists.
And an actual mammoth tusk and these could grow to up to four metres in length.
I thought this was some sort of shark, but it’s a great sturgeon. It’s like the museum was trying to catch me out, and succeeding…… As a fun fact these great sturgeon, if they’re not lifted out of the sea by hungry humans, can live for up to 100 years and can grow to seven metres in length.
Some wildlife scenes with stuffed animals and don’t those bears look cute? Although I’m still in a mood with polar bears.
A European bison and as a fun fact, although perhaps not fun for them, they went extinct in the wild in 1927 with every living one being located in a zoo. Breeding programmes have saved it and it’s back in the wild, although nowhere near as common as it was before.
I rather liked this museum, although there were some bits on things such as rocks that didn’t engage me personally, but each to their own. It wasn’t overly busy but there was a fair amount to see across the several floors. It’s well reviewed on-line and entrance is currently €6 for those who aren’t using the Bratislava Card. It’s a small price to pay to leave knowing more about bones, beasts and miserable fish.