Collection of reptiles. In this collection, serpents, lizards, crocodiles and turtles are exhibited.
Collection of freshwater fishes. In this more than a century old museum collection, various freshwater fish species
are presented. Through time, however, the exhibits have lost their original colours.
It may be interesting that the majority of fishes exhibited herewith were prepared
in a very special way: the taxidermist opened a fish through its belly, skinned it,
removed the body, then filled it with hot sand and sewed it up. Then it moulded it
suitably and left the skin to harden due to the hot sand inside. Then they poured the
sand out of the fish through its mouth, painted the fish, fixed it on a suitable stand
and – exhibited it.
All our attention deserves to be given to the Russian Sturgeon,
Acipenser
gueldenstaedtii, the fish that can no longer be found in Slovenian rivers. This
museal specimen, which was caught in 1883 in the Sava river near Ljubljana, is
more than a meter long.
Collection of sea fishes. The short Slovenian coast and the sea along it are so very distinct owing to the
coast's geological composition of flysch, which in other parts of the Mediterranean
happens to be fairly rare. The crumbly flysch cliffs incessantly fill the area of the
Slovenian coast with flysch sediments, whereas the rivers draining into the Gulf of
Trieste fill the shallow sea with riverine sediments. Due to the densely populated
coast, great amounts of organic matter that enable a successful growth of plankton
also drain into the sea. These are the major reasons why the Gulf of Trieste's floor
is predominantly silty. It is only here and there that sandy bottom, larger sunken
flysch sills or secluded islets of limy floor can be found as well. The temperature
and salinity of the Slovenian sea oscillate greatly through the four seasons of the
year, which is why cold-loving organisms as well as newcomers from tropical seas
are found here. Owing to the great concentration of micro- and phytoplankton,
which are followed by certain fish species, such as anchovies and sardines, some
very large fishes, such as whale sharks or even whales, can occasionally be seen in
this small part of the Adriatic Sea.
Collection of various vertebrates skeletons. The left display case presents bird skeletons, while in the right display case,
mammal skeletons are exhibited. Between them, a real human skeleton is
displayed.
Collection of birds. Exhibited are ducks, geese and swans – aquatic birds belonging to the group of Lamellirostres They were given their name after the numerous lamellae or dental plates, arranged in a regular series on the margins of their beaks. On them, food is gathered file filtering the water. The specimens in the central part of the bird collection are arranged partly according to their size and partly in view of the characteristic habitats. Presented on the right are, roughly, riparian birds living along rivers, followed by smaller species often noticed in shrubbery, on forest edges and in commons, then birds looking for food on tree trunks, followed by birds of prey, owls, corvids and smaller woodland birds. In the extreme left part of the central part of the bird collection there are birds living in rockwalls, often high in the mountains. Exhibited are the species that can be found predominantly in cultural landscape, while on the right-hand side the Kingfisher can be seen, known for making nest holes in sandy banks.