Field/Online Collection(s):

-Botany, Mammalogy , Mineralogy, Paleontology.

  The Museum, part of the University of Florence, is composed of these principal sections:

• Anthropology - The National Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology, founded in 1869, is one of the most important anthropological museums in Europe. It houses more than 25,000 objects of ethnological interest, a large number of which are on show to the public and about 7,000 anthropological finds (bones, plaster casts, hair).
  
  
• Botany - The Botanical Museum has two herbaria that were created in the pre-Linnaean period, that is before the famous Swedish scientist, Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) established definite rules for classifying and defining plants in 1753. These are the Cesalpino Herbarium, one of the world's first herbaria, prepared in 1563, and the Micheli-Targioni Herbarium, that dates from the early XVIII century.
  
  
• Geology and Paleontology - The open section of the Museum is mostly dedicated to Italian fossil mammals, collected during over two centuries and for which the Museum has gained a worldwide renown. On the second floor, which is not open for the public, the Museum has stored collections of invertebrates, rocks and plants.
  
  
• Mineralogy, Lithology and Crystallography (with a database for crystal structures) - The mineralogical collections, originating from the first half of the XVI century, under the patronage of the Medici family, make Florence's Museum of Mineralogy the most important in Italy, and one the most widely known abroad, for its historical and scientific value and for the great number of specimens.
  Specimens are about 45,000, the most important of which are the large geods of amethyst, the topaz crystal (of 151 Kg, the second largest in the world), and the crystal of aquamarine. There are also specimens of quartz, calcyte, tourmaline, gold and many precious stones and the metheorite collection.
  
  
• Zoology - The Specola Museum was opened to the public in 1775, and it is the oldest scientific museum in Europe. It holds the largest collection of anatomical waxworks in the world, manufactured between 1770 and 1850 and over 3,500,000 animals, of which only 5,000 are in view to the public.
  
  
• The Botanical Garden has several permanent exhibits involving a number of thematic routes such as The Pteridophytes, Succulent Plants, Carnivorous Plants, Medicinal plants, Tropical Greenhouse, Bromeliad Greenhouse, The Cycads, and the Orchids.

ITALY: