National Museum of Natural History, Uruguay facts for kids
| Museo Nacional de Historia Natural | |
Main entrance
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| Established | 1838 |
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| Location | Miguelete 1825, 11800 Montevideo, Uruguay |
| Type | Natural history museum |
The National Museum of Natural History (known as MNHN) in Montevideo, Uruguay, is a special place where you can explore nature and history. It's a natural history museum that first opened its doors in 1838. This makes it the oldest scientific place in Uruguay. It's also one of the oldest natural history collections in the entire world!
Today, the museum has two main locations. Its first permanent exhibition space is at Miguelete 1825. This building used to be the Miguelete Prison. The museum's huge scientific collections, its library, and offices are at Calle 25 de Mayo 582 in the Old City.
Contents
A Journey Through Time: The Museum's History
The idea for the museum started way back in September 1837. The Government of Uruguay decided to create a national library and a museum. A group was formed to make this happen.
The Early Years and First Discoveries
The museum officially opened on July 18, 1838. It was located in what is now the Plaza Zabala. Before it even opened, the team went on an exciting trip. In December 1837, they dug up a glyptodon fossil. A glyptodon was a giant, armored animal, like a huge armadillo! This amazing discovery happened near the Pedernal River.
It's cool to know that this museum is older than many famous ones. For example, it opened before the American Museum of Natural History (1871) in New York. It also opened before the Natural History Museum in London (1881).
Changes and Growth
For a while, the museum faced some challenges. Interest in it went down, and its collections became smaller. But in 1870, the government stepped in to help. They made new rules to make sure the museum's collections were cared for and grew.
In 1879, the museum moved to the Solís Theatre. It stayed there for many years, until 2000. In 1880, the National Museum was split into two parts. One part became the National Museum of Natural History. This is the part that focuses on science and nature. The other part became the National History Museum and the National Museum of Visual Arts. This official split happened in 1911.
New Homes and Permanent Exhibitions
The museum's space in the Solís Theatre was not ideal. After leaving the theatre in 2000, the museum moved a few times. For many years, it wasn't open to the public for regular visits. However, its collections were always open for scientists to study.
A big change happened in July 2018. The museum finally opened its first permanent exhibition space! This new home is on the grounds of a former prison. This prison, called Cárcel de Miguelete, was used from 1888 to 1986. It's special because it's the oldest panopticon prison in Latin America. A panopticon is a type of prison where a single guard can watch all the prisoners from a central point.
The museum shares this space with the Contemporary Art Space (EAC). The new museum space was opened to celebrate its 180th anniversary. This move had been planned for a long time, and it was a huge step for the museum!
Amazing Collections and Research
The National Museum of Natural History has incredible collections. It has about 80,000 plant specimens in its herbarium. A herbarium is like a library of dried plants. The museum also has thousands of animals. These include mammals, birds, fish, mollusks (like snails and clams), and spiders. Beyond that, its library holds over 250,000 books!
When the museum opened its new permanent space, it had two main exhibitions. One showed what prehistoric life in Uruguay was like. The other explored the present-day ecology of Uruguay. Ecology is the study of how living things interact with their environment.
The Giant Rodent Discovery
One of the museum's most famous items is a skull. In 2008, this skull was identified as a new species of rodent. It was named Josephoartigasia monesi. This name honors Álvaro Mones, a former director of the museum. He did important work on prehistoric rodents.
Josephoartigasia monesi is the largest known rodent species ever! Scientists believe it weighed up to 1,000 kg (about 2,200 pounds). That's as heavy as a small car! This giant rodent lived between 2 and 4 million years ago.
Sharing Knowledge
The museum also publishes many scientific papers. These help share new discoveries with the world. They have published "Annals" since 1894. They also have "Botanical Communications" (about plants) and "Zoological Communications" (about animals). There are also "Anthropological Communications" (about humans) and "Paleontological Communications" (about fossils).
Directors of the Museum
Many important people have led the museum over the years. Here are some of them:
- Dámaso Antonio Larrañaga (1837)
- Teodoro Vilardebó (1837–1840)
- Francisco Acuña de Figueroa (1840–?)
- Mariano Augusto Fabián Ferreira (1868–?)
- Juan Mesa (1888–1890)
- Carlos Berg (1890–1892)
- José Arechavaleta (1892–1912)
- Garibaldi José Devincenzi (1912–1942)
- Ergasto H Cordero (1942–1951)
- Diego Legrand (1951–1970)
- Miguel Ángel Klappenbach (1970–1984)
- Héctor S. Osorio (1984–1998)
- Álvaro Mones (1998–2004)
- Arturo Toscano (2004–2009)
- Víctor Scarabino (2009–2013)
- Javier Alfredo González García (2013–present)
See also
- In Spanish: Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Uruguay para niños
- Dr Carlos A. Torres de la Llosa Natural History Museum, another natural history museum in Montevideo.
- Lucrecia Covelo, an expert in insects who works at the museum.
