Zoology

The zoological collections contain some 10 million specimens representing an estimated 10 % of described multicellular animal species.

Chaeotodon orbicularis (Forsskål 1775)

The history of the collections reach back in time more than 200 years. They are therefore rich in type specimens, of which many are old and frequently requested by the international research community. The collections are continually developed and expanded with specimens from all over the world. A rapidly growing resource is our tissue collections for DNA analysis, including African mammals and more than 3,000 species of birds.

Apart from rich collections of Danish animals, the museum has strong representation of:

• The North Atlantic and Arctic (especially Greenland)
• The former Danish colonies in the West Indies
• East Africa (especially the Eastern Arc mountains)
• South American insects (especially butterflies)
• Philippines, Bismarck and Solomon Islands
• Deep Sea faunas
• Whale skeletons
• Material from several expeditions; Ingolf 1892, Galathea 2 (1950-52), Atlantide (1932), P.W. Lund (Lagoa Santa 1832-44)

Collections:

• Entomology:
  • Arachnida
  • Myriapoda
  • Diptera
  • Hymenoptera
  • Coleoptera
  • Lepidoptera
  • Hemiptera and smaller insect orders
  • Amber collection
• Invertebrates (except entomology):
  • Mollusca
  • Echinodermata - Tentaculata
  • Crustacea
  • Vermes
  • Porifera
  • Cnidaria - Ctenophora
  • Protozoa
  • Platyhelminthes, “Aschelminthes” & Proarthropoda
• Vertebrates:
  • Herpetology (Amphibians & reptiles)
  • Mammalogy (Mammals)
  • Ichthyology (Fish)
  • Ornithology (Birds)