Zoology

We have to go back to the Natural History Cabinet of Machado and Núñez to learn more about the history of the collection of Zoology of the University of Seville. The Cabinet, created in the middle of the nineteenth century, became one of the largest collections of Natural History in Europe thanks to the contributions of its own members, as well as donations and exchanges.

It was composed of the pieces that later formed the individualized collections of zoology, medicine, paleontology, prehistory and the herbarium. The first location of the Cabinet was a gallery on the second floor of the former Faculty of Sciences of the University (now headquarters of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Calle Laraña).

After more than 100 years, in 1957 the Cabinet was transfered to the building of the old Tobacco Factory in Seville. This transfer involves the dismemberment and loss of part of the biological and mineral collections of great value. In 1971 it was moved the zoological collection that remained in Laraña to the Factory. Nevertheless, a few years later, in 1976 the Faculty of Biology was transferred to Reina Mercedes, where the zoological collection would be again stored.

The zoological collection is preserved by the Department of Zoology of the University. The vertebrate section stands out, which is made up mainly of naturalized birds and mammals.

In 2012, the Department organized the First International Congress of University Teaching Innovation in Natural History (INNATUR 2012) in order to unite wills for contributing to the value of these natural history collections. Along these lines, the Virtual Life Museum (http://thevirtualmuseumoflife.com) emerged, an initiative that relied on the advantages of ICTs. Nonetheless, a better display of the zoological collections is needed since they were deprived of the entity they deserve in the ‘70s.