Search

MPM Giving Day

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Thank you to everyone for supporting the Milwaukee Public Museum during Giving Day 2026. Throughout the day, donors from across our city, state, and beyond showed remarkable generosity.

The department of vertebrate zoology encompasses all animals with backbones: fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

The oldest specimens date back to the 1840s, but most activity associated with vertebrates started in the 1870s. With the exception of the bird collection  and a portion of the fish collection, vertebrates are housed on the Sixth Floor  of the Museum. Besides collection areas, a lab area for specimen processing and examination is situated adjacent to the herpetology range.

Cosmic Curiosities

“Why should I feel lonely? Is not our planet in the Milky Way?”
- Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist and writer

MPM's Zoology collections are the largest in the Museum's care.

The Invertebrate Zoology collection contains approximately 800,000 specimens, of which 70% are insects, and the Vertebrate Zoology collection contains more than 1.8 million specimens, including fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Please Note:

In preparation for the upcoming collections move, we have adjusted our access policies:

Member Appreciation Celebration

Member Appreciation Celebration 2026 coming soon

We love our members! Your support enables MPM to serve half a million visitors each year. It allows us to care for more than 4 million collection objects. And, it increases community access to Museum programs and events. Thank you for everything you do. Members enjoy special perks during our Member Appreciation Celebration as a token of our appreciation.

Cosmic Curiosities

“I'll toss my coins in the fountain
Look for clovers in grassy lawns
Search for shooting stars in the night
Cross my fingers and dream on.”
 - Tracy Chapman, American Singer

Popular Perseids