The Zoological Institute is one of the oldest scientific institutions in St. Petersburg. In 2007 the institute became 175 years old although history of establishment of collections at the institute and the museum began much earlier, i.e. since the time of Peter the Great, who purchased exhibits for the Kunstkammer, the first Russian museum established by him in 1714. The first museum catalogue (1742) lists approximately 4000 representatives of mammals, birds, amphibians, fishes, insects and invertebrates, deposited in scientific collections of the Kunstkammer. The 18th century was the age of great expeditions including the famous academic expeditions of P.S. Pallas in the southern regions of Russia and Siberia. Extensive material collected during numerous marine and land expeditions of the early 19th century filled depository of the Kunstkammer. The official opening of the Zoological Museum took place in July 1832, which is accepted as the time of its foundation. Later the museum was transformed into the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences. Its scientific collections comprise approximately 60,000,000 items. The Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a leading research institution is one of the most significant zoological institutions in the world. ... [Information of the supplier, modified]
