The Museum Botanical Gardens and the Museum of the Department of Biology "Lidia Liaci"
The Museum Botanical Garden is a scientific institution of the University of Bari "Aldo Moro" engaged in study, research, dissemination and preservation of plant biodiversity. The university Botanical Garden, the Herbarium (Herbarium Horti Botanical Barensis) and the Germplasm Bank (BG-MOBB) belong to the Museum.
The Botanical Garden, founded in the University Campus in 1955, currently covers about 1 hectare and includes specimens of about 900 taxa, among whom were many entities of the Apulian spontaneous Flora.
The Herbarium Horti Botanical Barensis was established in 1955 by Professor Eleonora Francini Corti and increased greatly during his time at the University of Bari. Today it retains about 37,000 dried specimens (exsiccata), regional, national and foreign, among which you can find samples dated back to the nineteenth century and some collections, or parts of them, belonged to famous botanists.
In addition to samples of dried plants, there is also an educational purpose version of the Xylotomotheca Italica of Adriano Fiori (1865-1950), a collection of xilologic artifacts made of thin sections, transverse and longitudinal, of many wood species, including the most representative of Italian and foreign Flora. Built in the early twentieth century by the same author, it consists of 154 sections corresponding to 135 subgeneric taxa belonging to 93 genera. The preparations, with their label, are mounted between two rectangular glasses sealed by a gray canvas frame.
The Herbarium is an important scientific and educational heritage and assume, over time, more and more value from the historical-cultural point of view.
The Germplasm Bank (BG-MOBB), founded in 2005, is configured as a seed bank and deals with the conservation ex situ at low temperature (-15 ° C) of orthodox seeds of rare wild species, endangered or relevant for the Apulian territories.
A sinistra l'Erbario dwll'Universitą di Bari, al centro e a destra immagini della Banca del Germoplasma (BG-MOBB)
The Museum of the Department of Biology "Lidia Liaci" at the University of Bari Aldo Moro has a collection of about 300 ornithological specimens, including about 50 come from Puglia wetlands, along with reptiles and amphibians. Many of tassidermic preparations were made by the naturalist Liborio Salomi from Lecce, known throughout Italy for executive talent.
The Museum of Zoology is born in the 20ies together with the birth of the University of Bari and the Chair of the Faculty of Medicine Biology. In subsequent years, under the direction of Prof. Augusto Stefanelli, the first collections were consolidated with the help of the General Augusto Lettini and the naturalist Liborio Salomi.
The Institute of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy of the Faculty of Sciences. FF. NN finds its origins in 40ies and included the Department of Biology and its museum, with the official name of "Institute and Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy."
In 1967, the Institute and Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy moved from the old location in the Palazzo Ateneo to the University Campus while in 90ies the Institute of Biology of the Faculty of Medicine had its own office in the Polyclinic.
In 1992, the Halls of the Museum, which had since been moved to the new campus of street Orabona, were opened for the first time to the public on the occasion of the Second Week of Scientific Culture and Technology, reporting a very successful visits.
Today, the Museum of the Department of Biology consists of an exhibition space of 170 m2, divided into two rooms. On display are about 300 dry and liquid preparations of the main zoological groups, with particular emphasis on local wildlife. There is also a collection of vertebrate skeletons, some anatomical preparations of animals, as well as human remains of the local Neolithic.
There are also some marine and freshwater aquariums with representatives of local and exotic wildlife. You can also be found on display dioramas and educational panels made at the beginning of the century. Finally, there is a multimedia area for the projection of videotapes, CD-ROMs, DVDs and Internet access.
In addition to exhibitions the Museum held a series of conferences of naturalistic subject and protectionist. The Museum is also home to scientific research on wildlife in Puglia, southern Italy and the Mediterranean Basin, with emphasis on terrestrial vertebrates (amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds) and marine invertebrates.