Yangzhou University Museum of Zoological and Botanical Specimens

Yangzhou University Museum of Zoological and Botanical Specimens

The Yangzhou University Museum of Zoological and Botanical Specimens is located on the south side of the auditorium in the elegant Wenhuai Road Campus (adjacent to the Lotus Pond Park, a scenic spot in Yangzhou). The building faces east and has two floors, covering a total area of 461 square meters. It currently houses over 12,000 zoological and botanical specimens, mainly sourced from the former Nantong College, the former Southern Jiangsu College of Culture and Education, the former Jiangnan University, as well as from faculty members of our university and related scientific research partners.

The first floor of the Museum of Zoological and Botanical Specimens has an exhibition area of approximately 380 square meters, displaying around 2,000 animal specimens. These specimens mainly include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, and are arranged in a corridor-style layout following the natural classification system from lower to higher forms (coelenterates, mollusks, arthropods, arachnids, chordates). Among the exhibits are 29 species under national first-class protection, such as the giant panda, golden snub-nosed monkey, slow loris, bear macaque, white-headed langur, black leaf monkey, clouded leopard, leopard, Siberian tiger, Mongolian wild ass, wild camel, white-lipped deer, sika deer, takin, serow, as well as the white stork, golden eagle, bearded vulture, brown eared pheasant, red-crowned crane, great bustard, Chinese softshell turtle, monitor lizard, python, Chinese alligator, Chinese sturgeon, Chinese paddlefish, nautilus, and red coral; and 45 species under national second-class protection, such as the rhesus monkey, pangolin, black bear, brown bear, otter, lynx, red panda, finless porpoise, bottlenose dolphin, false killer whale, serow, sambar deer, spotted seal, striated heron, greater white-fronted goose, mute swan, whooper swan, mandarin duck, Eurasian sparrowhawk, northern goshawk, merlin, Eurasian hobby, red-footed falcon, Japanese sparrowhawk, Temminck's tragopan, blue eared pheasant, silver pheasant, Lady Amherst's pheasant, common crane, red-breasted parakeet, great hornbill, collared scops owl, green sea turtle, Chinese giant salamander, tiger frog, Chinese high-fin banded shark, purple clam, and amphioxus.

The second floor of the Museum of Zoological and Botanical Specimens has a storage area of nearly 40 square meters, where over 10,000 pressed plant specimens are densely stored, essentially covering representative plants from the main groups of vascular plants (including ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms).

The Museum of Zoological and Botanical Specimens is not only an important facility for campus culture at Yangzhou University, but also a youth science education base for the city of Yangzhou, as well as a site for experimental and practical teaching in biological disciplines at the university. The museum receives nearly 10,000 visitors annually for tours and learning. In addition to offering regular and appointment-based public access, the specimens can also be viewed and browsed online by scanning QR codes with a mobile phone.