Natural History Museum of Venice, Italy

[Italo40]

Hello guys!

Today I want to talk to you about an interesting museum situated where you wouldn't be expecting one: Venice, the City of Water. In a place famous worldwide for its architecture, art and food, the natural history theme is left behind, but it is not devoid of surprises. 

The museum was founded in 1860 and located in a XIII century palace, that served as a private residence and then as a market. The present appearance of the buidling was given by major renovation works that altered the original aspect. Nevertheless, it is an impressive location for a museum!!

The area around Venice is an alluvial plain and no fossil can be found. That's why the museum collection are made up of specimens found in other parts of Veneto region, Italy and of the world.

the highlight of the whole museum are the specimens collected during explorations that underwent in Africa in the 70's. In particular, the desert of Niger was explored. Back in the Early Cretaceous rivers and forests flourished there, as well as a very rich faunal assemblage. Italian-french excavations have yielded hundreds of dinosaur bones: theropods, ornithischians and sauropds are known. in the exhibits two specimens stand out above all:

 

First the skull, teeth and back plates of "Sarchosuchus imperator", a crocodyliform and one of the largest crocodile-like reptiles that ever lived.

(I only took a picture of the skull)

 

Then the mounted skeleton and paratype of "Ouranosaurus nigeriensis", an hadrosaurid dinosar, 6,5 m (21.3 ft) long. Hadrosaurids had an unusual plant-smashing beak, multiple rows of teeth and they were facultative bipeds. Like in the theropod "Spinosaurus aegypticus", the neural spines of "Ouranosaurus" form a sort of "sail" on his back, its function his unclear; a social (display) role is generally more accepted than that of thermoregulation. The Venice specimen lacks the skull, atlas vertebra, ribs, the distal segment of the tail and few other bones. It was not fully grown, but close to adult size. 

 

 

Other exhibits from the Niger expedition include teeth and bones of dinosaur and a turtle shell:

 

 

 

Regarding the other collections, they are less relevant and impressive in my opinion. 

You can see fish and plant remains from the Eocene of Bolca, a world-famous site not far from Venice.

 

 

A couple of interesting tracks of amphibians and reptiles from the Permian of South-western United States

 

Two amphibian body-fossil from the Permian of Germany

 

 

Eocene crabs from Veneto

 

 

A bird from the Cretaceous of China

 

The skull of temnospondyl amphibian from the Permian of Russia

 

 

The death track of a limulid from the Jurassic Solnhofen lagerstatten of Germany

 

 

And a sirenid from the Oligocene of France

 

 

Overall the Museum is interesting and I was satisfied.

I didn't know about the African expedition and of a dinosaur paratype!!

It was actualy difficult to take decent pictures (for the little lighting) and for most of the exhibits, labels and boards were minimized.

Anyway, if you stop by Venice, don't miss it!!

 

P.s.: if you'd like to have any additional information about the specimen that I uploaded a picture of or those that I left out, please ask, I would love the help!

[Wrangellian]

Looks like a nice place. I hope that the waters don't rise too high unexpectedly, preventing them from having a chance to move those specimens out of there.

Do they have a large invertebrate collection? Any Monte Bolca stuff?

 

[Italo40]

1 hour ago, Wrangellian said:

Looks like a nice place. I hope that the waters don't rise too high unexpectedly, preventing them from having a chance to move those specimens out of there.

Do they have a large invertebrate collection? Any Monte Bolca stuff?

 

Yeah, floods happen quite often (1-2 times per year), but I think that the museum is not affected.

As for the collections, the invertebrate section of the exhibition is very small (only a couple of mass mortalities of molluscs) and very few other things.

As for Bolca (usually it is recorded as Monte Bolca, but Monte, that means hill, is not correct) there are 3 fish specimens and a palm fruit. I attached the pictures in the previous post. Bolca stuff is ever-present in any Italian museum and Venice is no exception

[Troodon]

Nice tour thanks for posting.  

[Masp]

Will have to visit this museum next time I’m in Venice, thanks for sharing! 

[Wrangellian]

10 hours ago, Italo40 said:

Yeah, floods happen quite often (1-2 times per year), but I think that the museum is not affected.

As for the collections, the invertebrate section of the exhibition is very small (only a couple of mass mortalities of molluscs) and very few other things.

As for Bolca (usually it is recorded as Monte Bolca, but Monte, that means hill, is not correct) there are 3 fish specimens and a palm fruit. I attached the pictures in the previous post. Bolca stuff is ever-present in any Italian museum and Venice is no exception

Ah, I saw those Bolca fish but did not notice your blurb! Should have known they were from there. It was late here and I wasn't too sharp.

I was thinking about the rising sea level with global warming. I wonder how well Venice will be able to handle that...

[Italo40]

51 minutes ago, Wrangellian said:

Ah, I saw those Bolca fish but did not notice your blurb! Should have known they were from there. It was late here and I wasn't too sharp.

I was thinking about the rising sea level with global warming. I wonder how well Venice will be able to handle that...

Yes that's a for sure a matter that Venice will have to face in the future, but who knows when, probably (at least I hope) when we won't be around anymore 

[Wrangellian]

Yes, and hopefully it happens gradually so we have time to adjust, but I'm sure there will be catastrophic events like floods...

[jdp]

There are some excellent Bolca displays both at Universita degli Studi di Padova (~45 minute drive from Venezia) and at the museum on-site at Bolca over in the provincia of Verona. Bolca in particular is spectacular, and you can go for a short walk and see the actual Pesciara quarry, which is a fun little history lesson. I think there's a bunch of Bolca fishes in the museum in Verona as well, but I've never been. 

[jdp]

On 10/25/2019 at 4:07 PM, Italo40 said:

Yes that's a for sure a matter that Venice will have to face in the future, but who knows when, probably (at least I hope) when we won't be around anymore 

Acqua alta has been getting worse over the past few years, and the pumps at the entrance to Laguna have not really worked as advertised. Hopefully they get it figured out, but...

[Italo40]

2 hours ago, jdp said:

There are some excellent Bolca displays both at Universita degli Studi di Padova (~45 minute drive from Venezia) and at the museum on-site at Bolca over in the provincia of Verona. Bolca in particular is spectacular, and you can go for a short walk and see the actual Pesciara quarry, which is a fun little history lesson. I think there's a bunch of Bolca fishes in the museum in Verona as well, but I've never been. 

Yes, for vertebrate palaeontology the Padova museum is considered the most rich and important of the whole country. The museum has been closed for years and reopened only in 2018 and of all those that I've seen in Italy it is still my favorite one. I'll publish a few post about it in the upcoming weeks. 

The Bolca quarry has been owned by the same family for many many generations and the Pesciara is the only locality in Italy where amateurs can actually look for fossily legally. Otherwise the law forbids collecting and selling italian fossils (but not destroying them in quarries!).

Verona has a great museum too. Most of the holotypes, studied collections and the historical specimen found in Bolca (the oldest documented was found in the XVII century) are stored there. Besides, its province has the highest concentration of palaeontological museums of Italy, you can count 12 of them!! The whole Veneto region has a great palaeontological heritage: in the province of Vicenza, exceptional specimens of crabs can be found and the Zannato museum holds the most important collection of them (and is probably the most important fossil crabs-themed museum in the world). Again near Vicenza there is the stratotype of the Priabonian stage and many quarries known for their great assemblages. In the Dolomites alps (for example near Cortina d'Ampezzo) it is possible to find fossils too.

Is it difficult to find a place not famous for a fossil assemblage or a museum in Veneto I'd say!!

[Masp]

Didn’t know about this museum I will have to visit next time I’m there, thank you for sharing. 

[JamieLynn]

wow...how fabulous. I love taking a "virtual trip to the musuem:. thanks!! 

[Ruger9a]

Dang, I've been to Venice a few times and never thought of checking out this place...…..  Missus was much more interested in other sights.  My loss.  Maybe next time.  Great photographs and displays.  Thanks for sharing.