Maastricht Natural History Museum (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

: ''Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht'') is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The museum is located in a former monastery called ''Grauwzustersklooster'' (English: ''Monastery of the Grey Sisters'') in the historic district

Jekerkwartier The Jekerkwartier (; ) is a neighbourhood in the old city centre of Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands. It is named after the Jeker river that flows through the neighbourhood into the Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising ...

in the centre of Maastricht. The collection is dedicated to the

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

paleontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure ge ...

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

South Limburg South Limburg (Dutch: ''Zuid-Limburg'', Limburgish: ''Zuud-Limburg'') is both a COROP (statistical) region as well as a '' landstreek'' (area) of the Netherlands located in the province of Limburg. The Dutch term ''landstreek'', literally transl ...

. Highlights from the collection are

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

fossils from

Sint-Pietersberg Mount Saint Peter (French: ''Montagne Saint-Pierre''; Dutch: ''Sint-Pietersberg''), also referred to as Caestert Plateau, is the northern part of a plateau running north to south between the valleys of the river Geer to the west, and the Meuse t ...

, most notably the skull of a

Mosasaur Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Ancient Greek, Greek ' meaning 'lizard') are an extinct group of large aquatic reptiles within the family Mosasauridae that lived during the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains wer ...

(nicknamed "Bèr") and specimens of Hoffmann's giant turtle, '' Allopleuron hofmanni'' and Suyckerbuyk's turtle, ''Glyptochelone suyckerbuyki''. A significant mosasaurus skull was taken by the French during the Siege of Maastricht, and has been housed at the French National Museum of Natural History since 1794. Multiple attempts have been made since 1824 to have the piece returned to Maastricht. The museum also has a period room with cabinets of curiosities. A remarkable piece from that collection is a

rat king A rat king is a collection of rats or mice whose tails are intertwined and bound together in some way. This could be a result of an entangling material like hair, a sticky substance such as sap or gum, or the tails being tied together. A sim ...

from the 19th century. Behind the museum is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

, situated on the banks of the small river

Jeker The Jeker (; , ) is a river in Belgium and in the Netherlands. It is a left-bank tributary to the river Meuse. The source of the Jeker is near the village of Geer, in the Belgian provinces, Belgian province of Liège (province), Liège. The river ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control Natural history museums in the Netherlands Museums in Maastricht History of Maastricht