Museum of Comparative Zoology facts for kids
The Museum of Comparative Zoology (often called MCZ) is a special museum about animals. It's located at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This museum is one of three natural history museums at Harvard. The part of the museum that people can visit is called the Harvard Museum of Natural History.
The MCZ has a huge collection of about 21 million animal specimens. These include everything from tiny insects to giant whale skeletons! A few thousand of these amazing specimens are shown to the public.
Some of the things you can see at the museum are not just interesting for science, but also have cool stories. For example, there was a fossil sand dollar found by Charles Darwin in 1834. You could also see a bird called a mamo that belonged to Captain James Cook. There were even two pheasants that once belonged to George Washington!
It's important to know that the main research collections of the MCZ are not open to everyone. They are used by scientists for their studies.
Contents
History of the Museum
The Museum of Comparative Zoology was started in 1859. A famous zoologist named Louis Agassiz helped create it. People sometimes used to call the museum "The Agassiz" after him. Louis Agassiz wanted the museum's collection to show how different animals are. He also wanted to show how animals are related to each other. Many women scientists, like Elvira Wood, helped build the museum in its early days.
In 1894, a special science lab for women was created at the MCZ. It was called the Radcliffe Zoological Laboratory. Before this, women at Radcliffe College had to use very basic science rooms. Sometimes, they even used old bathrooms for their physics lessons! The new lab was a big step forward for women in science.
What the Museum Studies
The museum has nine different departments. Each department focuses on studying a specific group of animals or fossils. These departments have huge collections for research.
Here are the main departments:
- Entomology: This department studies insects.
- Herpetology: This is where scientists study reptiles and amphibians, like snakes, lizards, and frogs.
- Ichthyology: This department focuses on fish.
- Invertebrate Paleontology: Here, scientists study fossils of animals without backbones, like ancient seashells.
- Invertebrate Zoology: This department studies living animals without backbones, such as spiders, crabs, and worms.
- Mammalogy: This is where mammals, like bears, bats, and humans, are studied.
- Malacology: This department specializes in mollusks, which include snails, clams, and octopuses.
- Ornithology: This is the study of birds.
- Vertebrate Paleontology: Scientists here study the fossils of animals with backbones, like dinosaurs and ancient mammals.
The museum also has a tenth department, which is the Ernst Mayr Library and its archives. This library is a very important place for scientists to find information.
Amazing Things to See
The Harvard Museum of Natural History has many interesting things from the MCZ collections. Unlike some newer museums, it has hundreds of stuffed animals on display.
Some of the most famous exhibits include:
- Large whale skeletons.
- The biggest turtle shell ever found, which is 8 feet long!
- A famous Kronosaurus skeleton, which is a huge ancient sea reptile, 42 feet long.
- The skeleton of a dodo, a bird that is now extinct.
- A coelacanth, a rare fish that was thought to be extinct for a long time.
The Great Mammal Hall, which is two stories tall, was updated in 2009. This was to celebrate the museum's 150th birthday!
The museum also has changing exhibitions. These special shows have covered topics like "Evolution," "The Language of Color," and "Arthropods: Creatures that Rule."
Gallery of the Museum
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See also
In Spanish: Museo de Zoología Comparada para niños
