With an adventure and a mission to fulfill, children are guided to discover the work of a paleontologist and the animals of prehistory. By simulating an excavation, they have to search for, ‘clean,’ and identify the bones of a large prehistoric feline to reconstruct its skeleton. In doing so, they discover that it is a Smilodon fatalis, the famous ‘sabre-toothed cat,’ one of the Museum’s iconic exhibits. They can touch the fossils and hypothesize about the animal’s food choices and lifestyle habits, selecting appropriate food for it as part of an imaginative today feast.

The Museum’s Palaeontology collection enables visitors to embark on a genuine journey through time via its exhibits. Visitors gain an understanding of the concept of geological time, the principles of dating, the formation of fossils, and the reasons behind these processes. They then learn how to interpret the information presented by these exhibits, including details about the species that once inhabited our planet, from fascinating fossilized palm trees to the fearsome sabre-toothed tiger, as well as gaining insight into the conditions of the world during those epochs.

Charles Darwin asserted that one of the most compelling pieces of evidence supporting his theory is the existence of fossils. These discoveries provide testimony to past worlds and shed light on how life has evolved on our planet. Through the fossils on display, visitors can uncover the identities of today’s species’ ancestors and the mechanisms that played a role in their evolutionary history.

Legs, fins, wings, claws, hooves, horns, armour, teeth, fangs… Animals in the course of evolution have developed characteristics that have enabled them to survive in their environment. Visitors discover how biological structures can be studied comparatively to appreciate the beauty of animal biodiversity.