Museum of Evolution of Polish Academy of Sciences

The Museum of Evolution of Polish Academy of Sciences (Polish: Muzeum Ewolucji Instytutu Paleobiologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk) is a special place in Warsaw, Poland, where people can learn about how life on Earth has changed over millions of years. It is part of a bigger group called the Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii or Zoology Museum and the Instytut Paleobiologii or Paleobiology Institute. This museum shows many interesting fossils and specimens that help us understand the history of animals and plants.

The museum is located inside the famous Palace of Culture and Science, a big building that stands tall in the city. Visitors can see how different species have evolved, or changed, over time. This helps everyone, especially children, to learn about the natural world in a fun and educational way. The Museum of Evolution is an important place for scientists and learners alike.

History

In the halls of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, professor Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska organised an exhibition named "Dinosaurs of the Gobi Desert" in 1968. It featured discoveries from Polish-Mongolian missions to the Gobi Desert.

The Museum of Evolution was founded in 1984. In 1985, the public could see the "Evolution on Land" exhibition, created by Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska. It showed many fossils, including ones from Mongolia, as well as insects and birds.

In 2001, a new display about ancient amphibians and reptiles from Krasiejów near Opole opened. In 2003, a reconstruction of the Australopithecus specimen "Lucy" was added. In 2005, new dinosaur skeletons were added to the museum. In 2009, the museum grew to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's important book.

Permanent Exhibition

Many of the dinosaur skeletons on display were found during Polish-Mongolian trips to the Gobi Desert in the 1960s and 1970s. One huge skeleton of a plant-eating dinosaur called Opisthocoelicaudia fills the main hall. Near it, you can see bones from other dinosaurs, early horned and armoured dinosaurs, and tiny skulls of small mammals that lived at the same time.

The museum also shows big meat-eating dinosaurs from the Gobi Desert, including two models of Tarbosaurus, a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex. These models show how our ideas about dinosaurs have changed over time. You can also see fossils from Poland, like a very old frog skeleton found near Cracow, and casts of flying reptiles called pterosaurs from Germany.