Biodiversity museum boosts science and tourism

ERZURUM

The Atatürk University Biodiversity Science Museum is contributing to both scientific research and tourism with its extensive collection of biological specimens gathered from Türkiye.

Housing more than 250,000 specimens representing around 10,000 species collected over 60 years, the museum features a wide range of exhibits, including replicas of mammoths, dinosaurs and whales, as well as plants, insects, mammals, reptiles and fossils dating back millions of years.

Operating under the university’s Biodiversity Application and Research Center, the museum also contains fish collections preserved in special chemicals since the 1970s.

With the support of Ahmet Hacımüftüoğlu, rector of Atatürk University, new projects are being carried out in collaboration with scientists from Türkiye and abroad, aiming to protect the country’s biodiversity and raise public awareness through education.

The museum has hosted more than 30,000 visitors over the past three years, contributing significantly to both tourism and science.

Professor Levent Gültekin, the founding director of the center, said the museum was designed not only as a visitor attraction but also as an educational and research hub.

The museum includes seven permanent exhibitions covering paleobiodiversity, insects, plants, mammals, birds, reptiles and aquatic life, and is visited by students from all levels of education.

“We have a scientific collection consisting of a quarter of a million biological specimens from nearly 10,000 species,” Gültekin said. “As a research center, it brings together scholars from Türkiye and the international community to study and conserve species, particularly those native to Türkiye and Anatolia.”

Gültekin noted that invertebrates make up the majority of biodiversity, with insects forming a significant portion, and described Eastern Anatolia as one of the key biogeographical regions.

Highlighting the richness of the collection, he said the museum holds one of the most extensive insect collections in Türkiye, as well as nearly one-third of the country’s plant species. Some herbarium samples date back as far as 150 years, obtained through international exchanges.

The museum also serves as a hub for biodiversity research, hosting joint international projects and contributing to the identification and classification of previously unknown species.

“Many species risk disappearing before they are even discovered,” Gültekin said. “Museums play a critical role in preserving genetic material that can support future scientific research, even if those species vanish in nature.”