Knuckles and Bones
Much of the material shown in the unique exhibition about knucklebones at the Natural History Collections has not previously been shown to the public before it opened in 2003. The exhibition, titled ”Knuckles and Bones", is presented in a separate knucklebone room next to the famous Whale Hall at the Museum.
Hovedinnhold
The exhibition consists of several parts. One part is a very abundant and thoroughly prepared presentation of craniums, spinal columns, and limbs from all types of vertebrate animals. It is complete in its original shape. The other part consists mainly of craniums (skulls) collected at the Zoological Laboratory over a number of years, in the main by Professor August Brinkmann. This collection is shown in display cases on the walls. Next to them are craniums of all large Norwegian mammals mounted in separate sections on the walls, ranging from elk to domestic cat skeletons.
Finally, microscopic images of bone tissue are shown to give the visitors an idea of what bone really is. The photographs show toe knuckles of cats and rats, the bone tissue is magnified up to 3000 times.
Bergen Museum like to show the public the wide variety of the skeletal system. Bone tissue exists only in vertebral animals, and we know that it was formed around 450 million years ago. It must have been a successful invention, because the vertebrates are dominant in most accessible areas of the globe today. The skull in particular shows an amazing variation, and is adapted to all possible ways of life and nourishment types. In addition, knuckles are in many ways successful because of their aesthetic value. The bone collection may become part of several of the teaching topics in biology at university and in schools
Professor of Zoology at the University of Bergen, Harald Kryvi is the professional responsible for the exhibition set up in collaboration with exhibition architect Anne Aspen at Bergen Museum.
