Natural History Museum Vienna

  • Herpetofauna

    Herpetofauna Amphibians and reptiles under observation in AustriaImportance and evaluability of databases increase with the extent, the precision and the currency of the data stored.The Natural History Museum Vienna, one of the largest non-university research institutions in Austria, houses more than 30 million objects from the fields of biology, earth sciences and human sciences. Since 1982, the Amphibian and Reptile Collection has also been collecting data on the historical and recent...

  • Mineral deposits in Austria

    Austria is rich in a wide range of mineral deposits. Precise documentation of both “old” deposits (e.g. mining heaps and tunnels, slag heaps) and “new” location spots (e.g. quarries, natural outcrops, road cuts, etc.) is one of the focuses of the Department of Mineralogy and Petrography at the Natural History Museum Vienna. This can be achieved only with the help of mineral collectors, amateur mineralogists and members of the general public interested in mineralogy who collect minerals and...

  • Weaving techniques

    • Project lead: Karina Grömer
    • Natural History Museum Vienna, Prehistoric Department
    • Address: Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
    • Topic: Culture
    • Activity: experimenting
    • Participation: Open participation
    Archaeological finds of textile remains give an insight into ancient weaving techniques, including fabrics from the Hallstatt salt mine dating from between 1500 and 300 BC, or finds of gold threads such as those from Ebreichsdorf in Lower Austria, ca. 1100 BC. They are scientifically analysed and reworked in the Prehistoric Department of the Natural History Museum in order to understand the manufacturing technique and the amount of work involved. Especially the board weavings and fabric with...

  • ABOL-BioBlitzes

    ABOL-BioBlitzes
    • Project lead: Nikolaus Szucsich
    • Austrian Barcode of Life – Koordination
    • Address: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Burgring 7, A-1010 Wien, Österreich
    • Telephone: + 43 (1) 523 7302 135
    • Topic: Animals
    • Activity: identifying, observing
    • Participation: Open participation
    • Project link: https://www.abol.ac.at/en/homepage_en/
    The lack of sustainability in human activity is leading to the global destabilisation of our natural systems. The resulting biodiversity and climate crises require a transformation to an environmentally sustainable society. However, the expertise in the field of taxonomy required for this transformation is often only shared by a few experts. This leads to a bottleneck in biological species knowledge, where, depending on the group of organisms, often only a few citizen scientists have the...

  • Mammoth wasp

    Mammoth wasp The mammoth wasp Megascolia maculate is the largest wasp species in Europe with a body length of up to 4.5 cm. In Austria, a few specimens of the mediterranean species were found in Vienna and Lower Austria at the end of the 19th century. Since then, there have been sporadic sightings in eastern Austria in recent years. Due to the current climatic warming it can be assumed that the species will spread further in Austria in the next years. In order to observe and document this, we need your...

  • Friends of the Garden

    • Project lead: Karin Ernst
    • Österreichische Gesellschaft für Herpetologie (ÖGH)
    • Address: c/o Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
    • Telephone: 0043 1 52177 61
    • Topic: Animals
    • Activity: observing
    • Participation: Open participation
    • Project link: https://www.herpetozoa.at/index.php/aktivitaeten/gartenfreunde
    From alpine crested newt to sand lizard - gardening enthusiasts report pleasePrivate gardens not only provide a place of peace and relaxation for humans but can also serve as important habitats and stepping stones for many animal and plant species. Especially the two endangered species groups of amphibians and reptiles can benefit from a garden designed with nature in mind. However, occurrences of common tree frogs, smooth newts, common lizards, and other species in residential...

  • Cave documentation

    • Project lead: Lukas Plan
    • Working Group on Karst and Caves, Natural History Museum Vienna
    • Address: Museumsplatz 1, Stiege 10, 1070 Wien
    • Telephone: +43 1 5230418-10
    • Topic: Geology
    • Activity: measuring, photography, locating
    • Participation: Closed participation
    • Project link: https://nhm-wien.ac.at/nhm/hoehle/mitmachen/dokumentation
    Karst and cave documentationThe Working Group on Karst and Caves (KHA) of the Natural History Museum Vienna cooperates closely with the Speleologic Society in Vienna and Lower Austria, but also with other groups of the Austrian Speleological Association (VÖH). The KHA is primarily active in the eastern part of Austria. Working in the terrain requires some physical fitness, surefootedness and a sense of orientation, as marked paths are usually abandoned. However, interesting objects...

  • Fossilfinder

    Fossilfinder Due to the enormous request and the multitude of consignments of fossil images encompassing almost the entire Earth history, the precise issues and the resulting project target were adapted in accordance to the requirements and wishes oft he citizen scientists. The geographical and chronological distribution of fossils in Austria is a particular focal point in the scientific problem of this geoscience project. Exciting field research in the Austrian Alps forms the foundation of the...