The Porvoo Museum collection of Finnish vertebrates contains both taxidermied specimens as well as specimens preserved for science.
The largest and most beautiful part of the collection is the so-called doubles collection by K. E. Kivirikko, which includes birds and mammals. Professor Kivirikko is a widely known researcher and the author of several scientific books, but also a skilled taxidermist. His actual collection is in the Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki. He built the collection in 1880–1940.
Another valuable part of the vertebrate collection are the birds’ eggs. The museum collection contains 1000 eggs from 500 nests. The eggs are primarily collected before the 1900s, which is due to the fact that the Porvoo Museum collections accumulate through donations. As early as 1923 the first bird species, including their nests and eggs, were protected in Finland’s first nature protection law. As a result collecting eggs was no longer allowed for private individuals and nowadays collecting the eggs of wild birds is strictly forbidden!
Of course the Porvoo Museum collections include even other kinds of specimens of vertebrates: bones, skins and wet specimens.
