Phylogeny, Evolution and Biodiversity

The Phyletic Museum was founded in 1907 by Ernst Haeckel. It is dedicated to the phylogenetic history of animals. We provide unique insights into the diversity of the animal kingdom and explain the mechanisms of evolution. How and why do species change over time? Answers to these questions can also be found by examining ontogeny – the individual development of a living organism. The museum’s history, its collections and its research activities reflect the close link between developmental biology and evolutionary research.

Opening hours

We are open every day except Mondays. Our service team is available to provide information during office hours|opening hours (03641 949180).

Tuesday to Friday: 09.00 – 13.00 and 14.00 – 17.00
Weekends and public holidays: 10.00 – 16.00

Please note: Last admission is 45 minutes before closing time. The museum is closed on 24, 25 and 31 December and on 1 January.

Admission fee

Adults: 4,50 €
Family ticket: 10,00 € (parents or grandparents with children)
School groups: 1,50 € per student + 3,50 € per accompanying adult
Reduced fee: 3,50 € (children aged 6 and over, students, trainees, pensioners, participants in the Federal Voluntary Service, people with disabilities)
Free admission for children under 6, students at the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the Friedrich Schiller University, members of the Phyletisches Museum Friends’ Association and accompanying adults of nursery school groups

You can also purchase lovely postcards and interesting books on various topics at our service desk. Card payments are accepted.

Hall of the Medusae: Special Exhibition ELECTRUM MUNDI

Humankind has always been fascinated by this translucent, flammable stone. Amber conceals many secrets, and it seems reluctant to reveal the one concerning its true origin. Highly prized as jewellery, its immeasurable value – in the form of its rare inclusions – remained unrecognised for a long time. Amber offers a glimpse into the past and allows us to draw conclusions about the evolution of organisms. Its aesthetic appeal remains unchanged, particularly that of the pieces which are unique due to the organisms forever trapped within them. Some of these extraordinary pieces of amber are being presented in an unprecedented way at the Phyletic Museum in Jena.

Baltic amber with inclusions, including an ant. Age: 35–45 million years. You can learn about the amazing story of this find and its connection to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at the museum.
Collage: Manuela Schmidt

Understanding evolution properly

The theory of evolution today is no longer the theory of evolution that Charles Darwin set out in his first major work, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection", in 1858. Since then, research into living organisms has gathered countless pieces of evidence from many different disciplines, enabling us to speak of a body of knowledge with universal explanatory power. However, the core of the theory of evolution has remained the same since Darwin’s time: species are not static but change over time. These changes lead to the emergence or extinction of species. As a passionate pigeon fancier, Darwin used artificial selection to prove the mutability of species through external influences. In the Evolution Hall, we explain the mechanisms of evolution.

Evolution Hall: Pigeons, various breeds
Image: Manuela Schmidt

Human Evolution and Diversity

Charles Darwin found the idea of higher development through evolution absurd – a point of contention between him and Ernst Haeckel, who, for his part, believed that humankind was the crown of the family tree. We do not share Ernst Haeckel’s belief. Phylogenesis does not strive towards a higher, idealistic goal, like a tree growing towards the light. And yet the Hall of Human Evolution stands, quite literally, at the heart of the museum. Our species, Homo sapiens, is unique because of the close interconnection between biological and cultural evolution in the history of human evolution. Using significant fossil finds and artefacts, we illustrate how our evolutionary history unfolded and what distinguishes us today as human beings in all our diversity.

The Hall of Human Evolution (Anthropogenesis), featuring significant fossils and artifacts.
Image: Manuela Schmidt

Hall of the Invertebrates: sponges, corals, worms, and arthropods

Most of the animals are invertebrates. Arthropods, the group with the greatest diversity of species at all, includes insects, arachnids, crustaceans and millipedes. However, cnidarians also occupy a special place in the exhibition hall, as they were among the animals that Ernst Haeckel preferentially studied. Jellyfish fascinated him because of their symmetrical and delicate forms, which Haeckel immortalised in his *Art Forms in Nature* (1899 to 1904). Today, 3D models can bring the jellyfish once collected by Ernst Haeckel back to life with no less artistic flair. Our collection manager, Bernhard Bock, learnt this technique at the renowned Danish company 10 Tons.

Don’t be afraid of the spiders. In reality, they are much smaller.

Tarantulas during their mating behavior
Image: Manuela Schmidt

Hall of the Vertebrates: reptiles, birds, fish and mammals

Why are vertebrates so much more familiar to us than invertebrates? Well, for a start, many of them are simply larger and more conspicuous. And then there are those incredible fossils: enormous sharks, towering dinosaurs, giant crocodiles and supposed primitive birds (feathered dinosaurs). One particularly remarkable fossil is †Tiktaalik roseae from the Devonian period, a kind of newt belonging to the ancestral group of terrestrial vertebrates. Although this animal still had gills, it also had a lung and was the first to have elbows. It was presumably able to stand upright in shallow water to breathe air, as oxygen in the water was scarce during the Devonian period. An object at least as spectacular is the coelacanth, masterfully prepared by Matthias Krüger, our chief taxidermist.

Cast of the fossil fish Tiktaalik roseae, an ancestor of land vertebrates
Image: Manuela Schmidt