Walskelette im Museum | Großbritannien | Cambridge

Museum of Zoology

Finnwalskelett ausgestellt in Cambridge

Downing Street
Cambridge CB2 3EJ
Großbritannien

mit vollständigen Skeletten von:

  • Finnwal,  Balaenoptera physalus

The University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, was established by 1816 and houses a distinguished collection of zoological material. This material was acquired during more than a century and a half and includes, for example, specimens from Charles Darwin’s famous ‚Beagle‘ voyage.
The Museum’s Finback Whale skeleton was on exhibition in the Old Zoology Museum, demolished in 1965. The most immediately impressive feature of the skeleton is its enormous size: the Finback Whale is the second largest living whale (it is exceeded in size only by the Blue Whale) and the Cambridge specimen is also one of the largest recorded of its species. Many former members of the University have told us that their most powerful recollection of the Old Museum is the Whale skeleton: it is truly an emblematic animal, and it draws the attention of the whole University to a heritage of collections and the responsibility of caring for them.
The Whale, a male, was washed ashore dead at Pevensey in Sussex in November 1865. Some 40,000 people are estimated to have made the trip to view it on the beach during the first few days of its stranding. The skeleton was prepared, and viewed over Easter, 1866, with some excitement, by the public at Hastings, and it was subsequently bought for the Museum by public subscription.

The skeleton is, indeed, spectacular, with a length of nearly 70 feet. The living animal would have weighed around 80 tonnes (of the same order of magnitude as the heaviest dinosaurs).

Info-Telephon:   (01223) 336650
Öffnungszeiten:
During University term-time: Monday – Friday 14.00 – 16.45
Out of University term-time: Monday – Friday 10.00 – 16.45
Informationen zur Anfahrt

E-Mailumzc@zoo.cam.ac.uk
Internet:http://www.museum.zoo.cam.ac.uk/highlights/items/fin-whale