Historical-Didactic Collections | Virtual Center for Zoology Collections

Zoological Collection:

Most of the specimens are on display in the showcases in the corridor of the Zoology Department, which can be visited by students and the general public. The rest of the duplicate specimens or specimens susceptible to restoration are in a space dedicated to heritage collections in the V Centenary Building of the University of Granada.

On an ongoing basis, through teaching innovation projects and the support of the Department of Zoology, the needs for improvement, conservation and visibility of the collection are attended to.

This collection has provided content for the Virtual Museum of the CCZ-UGR website as a support for learning zoology subjects in the different degrees in which the department is involved.

In 2023, the “Catalog of the Department of Zoology's Historical and Educational Collection: A Natural History” (ed. M. Moleón) was published. It is available as a PDF for download and viewing by clicking HERE.

This publication was funded by the University of Granada’s Program for Innovation and Best Teaching Practices, as part of the project “The Department of Zoology’s Historical-Educational Collection: An Inclusive Resource” (ref.: 22-179). It is a compendium of the contents of the display cases, specifically regarding the species included in them, with a special emphasis on the “featured species” of each display case, classic Spanish researchers and naturalists from each group, and specialized Spanish scientific societies and their publications.

Magic Lantern Plates Collection:

During the renovation of the Department of Zoology in 2012, five wooden boxes were discovered containing a collection of 436 magic lantern slides, 95 of which were from *Les fils d'Émile Deyrolle* (1912) and the rest produced by Radiguet & Massiot (1900). These are educational materials used to teach various zoology courses from the late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.

Magic lantern plates reached their peak in popularity toward the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, being used in both academic and recreational settings. With the advent of flexible-medium color slides in the mid-20th century, magic lantern plates fell into disuse.

Thanks to the aid program for the co-financing of University Extension activities of this Vice-rectorate of the University of Granada in the modality of Conservation and dissemination of Heritage, it has been possible to tackle, firstly, the cleaning and restoration of the 436 lantern plates that make up the collection, the storage in individual envelopes of specific material and the restoration of the original wooden boxes that housed them. Subsequently, the plates were catalogued and digitized for the creation of a database on the CCZ-UGR website. In a second stage, the appropriate storage for the collection in specific boxes of photographic material was addressed and all this, together with the original restored boxes, placed in a suitable cabinet located in the collections room of the department with the appropriate humidity and temperature conditions for proper conservation.