Emblematic Pieces: A visual Tour in One of the Oldest Natural History Museums

When entering the Biodiversity room you find one of the MNCN’s masterpieces of taxidermy.

It is a diorama which illustrates the daily life of a colony of bee-eaters (Merops apiaster), a migratory species that winters in tropical Africa and visits Europe for breeding.

The first thing that stands out in this display case is the high number of specimens that make up the biologic group: thirty seven bee-eaters including males, females and chicks.

Based on different specimens we can observe the reproductive cycle of these beautiful birds: some of them are incubating eggs, others are feeding the chicks, others are preening their feathers to keep them in perfect condition, others fly looking for insects and others remain alert to safeguard the colony’s peace.

One of the most attractive pieces of the MNCN is the fin whale skeleton (Balaenoptera physalus) which hangs from the ceiling of the Biodiversity room.

This cetacean which migrates through the Strait of Gibraltar is the second biggest animal in the world after the blue whale.

Few animals are as attractive as the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus), a charismatic piece for several reasons, the saddest one is its extinction in 1936. Although until 1986 it was not declared extinct, as required by the scientific community, it was 50 years ago that the last specimen died at the Hobart zoo, in Tasmania.

This carnivorous marsupial attracts attention due to its dog body and tiger stripes, which also explains why it is known as marsupial wolf or tiger of Tasmania, although it has nothing to do with the felines and canines.

Only a few centuries before, this species was common throughout Europe, but today it has disappeared from almost all European countries. In Spain there are still big populations, but it also disappeared from areas where it was abundant. As it is the case of Brunete, a town in Madrid where the male and two of the females in the diorama were hunted, or Valencia where the third female in the diorama was killed in 1906.

This work reflects the extensive knowledge the taxidermist had about these birds. He visited the populated areas frequently to observe the birds and get to know their habits and gestures. To give realism to the scene, the Benedito brothers went to Brunete to examine the field and to recreate it they asked for sheaves of wheat to the owner of the farm and they put them at the bottom of the showcase.

Another aspect that has given extraordinary value to this specimen, is that thanks to the drawings made by Brú, both of the isolated bones and of the mounted animal, the Frenchman Cuvier gave name to this species, so this specimen is the holotype of the species.

Even Darwin studied this animal through Brú’s drawings, which were also sent to whom years later would become the President of the United States of America, Thomas Jefferson, also palaeontologist, although he had no opportunity to study them.

This Pre-Columbian mirror, made from a polished obsidian, is a unique piece which was donated to the MNCN in 1925. There are only five round mirrors exhibited in the entire world.

Although it is commonly known as the Inca mirror, it actually belongs to the Aztec civilization. Its name results from the mistaken belief of the XVIII century that the obsidian belonged to the Incas.

Obsidian is a volcanic glass widely used among Mesoamerican cultures.

One of the biggest treasures of the museum are the samples of crystallised sulphur from Conil (Cádiz, Spain), some of big size and perfect crystallization, collected in 1791 by Francisco Javier Molina.

The collection of the mineral was quite arduous as the crystallizations were very deep. But the ingenuity of Molina made it possible to extract some excellent macro crystals, with which they filled six boxes that where carried undamaged to Madrid.

The Museum keeps more than 60 samples of crystallized sulphur. Some of them are really spectacular and were exhibited at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, 1867.

One of the collections that generates more expectation among visitors is the meteorites collection, the most important in Spain. It consists of 300 samples or fragments of 160 meteorites coming from all over the world.

The origin of the collection dates back to the second half of the XIX century, when the Marquis de Socorro organized the then limited material available in the museum, consisting of just some old samples, to which he added other pieces obtained by exchanges or purchased.

Many of the meteorites of the collection were obtained through exchanges with other museums organized by the geologist Salvador Calderón in the second half of the XX century.