The Orangutan specimen (Pongo pygmaeus) precedes the foundation of the museum. In 1865, Giacomo Doria and his friend the botanist Odoardo Beccari were visiting Borneo to collect specimens. In January 1866, Doria decided to return to Italy due to health reasons and stopped over in Singapore that February. In Singapore, he bought two young female orangutans on a ship from Pontianak, the current capital of the West Kalimanatan province of Indonesia. One of the orangutans lived in Genoa for a while and is the specimen displayed in the case next to the male.
The Bornean Orangutan is classified in the IUCN Red List as a “critically endangered” species; over the last 60 years, its population has decreased by 50%. It has been estimated that, without immediate and drastic intervention, its decline will continue until extinction! Why are Orangutans disappearing? The destruction of their natural habitat, due to the conversion of forests into urban centres and agricultural areas; fires and wild deforestation, due to the ever-increasing demand for timber; poaching, as Orangutans are being hunted both for sale to zoos and for their meat.

The Hoopoe starling, native to the Mascarene island of Réunion (Indian Ocean), was second to none.
In 1759, to combat locusts damaging crops, the Common myna (Acridotheres tristis) was introduced.
The competition with the myna, along with the destruction of their habitat, rats preying on their nests, and hunting, contributed to the disappearance of the Hoopoe starling.
The last specimens of this species disappeared between 1835 and 1840.
Only 23 specimens are preserved in the museums of the world.

Among the Pinnipeds (Room 5), the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) was discovered in 1923 in Camogli, a seaside town not far from Genoa. It represents historic evidence of the presence of the species in the coastal area of the Ligurian sea.
Currently, the monk seal, which is the only pinniped found in the Mediterranean, is sighted only occasionally in Sardinia and no longer has a viable population. It is considered to be at risk of extinction and the main reasons for its decline are accidental capture in nets and the progressive disappearance of stretches of isolated coastline, which it needs for reproduction.

The Palaeontology Room is dominated by the large skeleton of an ancient Italian elephant (Elephas antiquus italicus) which lived during the Quaternary in the forests of Eurasia and is now extinct.
It is probable that the elephant, which was found in 1941 in a deposit of diatomaceous earth in the Viterbo area, became trapped in mud in a lake and was unable to get back to the bank. After its death, the elephant sank to the bottom of the lake and slowly became buried in sediment composed of microscopic diatom skeletons. When this turned into rock, the fossil of this large animal was preserved. In order to prepare the skeleton for its display in Genoa, the specimen was moved to the Institute of Geology in Pisa, where the bones were sadly damaged by Allied bombing and thus had to undergo further restoration work. Between 1953 and 1954, the skeleton was finally installed in its current position, thanks to a financial contribution made by the Amici del Museo Society. In 1996, the specimen underwent meticulous restoration work carried out by the Insititute of Geology and Palaeontology at the University of Florence.

The Neptune’s Cup Sponge (Cliona patera) is a cup-shaped sponge so large that it can be used as a bathtub! Discovered for the first time in 1822 in Pacific waters, this species has been subject to indiscriminate fishing by collectors which has almost led to extinction. The last living specimen was in fact seen in 1908. In 2011, however, biologists found specimens off the coast of Singapore. This discovery allowed to follow the growth path but, above all, to develop strategies for their conservation. The Neptune’s Cup Sponges are exhibited on the first floor, in the Invertebrate Room.

In Room 12 the group of cassowaries is of particular scientific importance and visual impact.
These elusive, flightless birds are native to the rainforests of New Guinea, nearby islands and north-eastern Australia. They have a keratinous skin-covered casque on their heads and several functions have been proposed: to amplify deep sounds, as a secondary sexual characteristic, or used to batter through underbrush.  They are 1.5 to 1.8 m tall and weigh up to 60 kg. Cassowaries have three-toed feet with sharp claws. The second toe, the inner one in the medial position, sports a dagger-like claw that may be 125 mm long. This claw is particularly fearsome since cassowaries sometimes kick humans and other animals with their powerful legs.
The specimens exhibited were collected in Moluccas (Indonesia) and in New Guinea, at the end of the 19th century, by the explorers Odoardo Beccari, Luigi Maria D’Albertis, Lamberto Loria and Antonie Augustus Bruijn, who were in south-east Asia at the time and had contacts with the Museum of Genova.
There are 11 specimens, at different age levels, and some eggs; all three existing species are represented: Casuarius casuarius, Casuarius unappendiculatus  e Casuarius bennetti.

In 2017 the Museum celebrated 150 years of life, the Friends of the Museum association celebrated 90 years since its foundation and on this special occasion the Hall of Cetaceans was set-up with the contribution of the association: an immersion in an all-blue room with models, skeletons, posters and a spectacular sperm whale that occupies an entire wall.
The most impressive exhibit is the fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) skeleton hanging from the ceiling of Rooms 7 and 8.
On 1 October 1878, the specimen – already deceased – was sighted in the sea a few miles off Punta Mesco and then dragged to shore at Monterosso (in the province of La Spezia). The local fishermen extracted over 20 barrels of oil from the carcass and, during drying, it was discovered that the whale was a pregnant female containing a 4.5 metres long foetus. Once cleaned, the bones (which weighed 3,000 kg in total) were mounted in the University of Genoa’s Zoological Museum. In 1927, the skeleton was taken apart and transferred to Genoa’s Natural History Museum, where it was put back together again and mounted in its current position in 1932. The animal was 22 or 23 metres long, with a maximum circumference of 5 metres, while the skeleton measures nearly 20 metres in length.