In the second room, the extinct organisms are followed by a selection of important animal groups living today, with striking examples from around the world. At the centre of the modern biodiversity display, visitors are confronted with a life-size sculpture of a 13.5-metre-long humpback whale and a leaping, 6.5-metre-tall orca. Next to these, the mainland giants, a mounted specimen of a male giraffe and a cast of an African forest elephant, appear rather small.
The “March of the Animals” also shows dwarfs, such as a mouse-sized elephant shrew, or strange creatures such as a pangolin or an aardvark and provides insights into the great diversity of forms and species of mammals living today. In the outer display cases, visitors will find the other vertebrates such as birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish, as well as examples of all the major invertebrate animal groups.
The largest group by far, the insects, are traditionally the focus of attention, as they are in the “insect hall” of the old permanent exhibition. Other highlights include crustaceans, as well as bivalves and gastropods, with selected showpieces such as the giant “killer clam” and a triton’s horn. If you want to learn more about the behaviour and diet of individual animal groups, you can watch short films at three video stations.
