Frommer's Review
This pretty pink baroque palace that was once the home of Brazil's royal family is now home to vast and incredibly varied collection; many items were originally acquired by the Emperor Pedro II and Empress Teresa, who dabbled respectively in botany and archaeology. The grand entrance hall shows many of the more exotic items: mastodon trunks, a saber-tooth tiger skull, the full skeleton of a giant Pleistocene sloth (5m/16 ft. long!), and a huge multiton meteorite cut in cross section so visitors can run their hands across its polished iron-nickel surface. Beyond the main hall the collection becomes more ordered. One vast wing is devoted to the works of man (mostly homo brazilienses). On display are dolls dressed in regional costumes, weapons and masks of aboriginal tribes, whips and saddles from interior cowboys, and much more. The other wing attempts to present all of life, beginning with the smallest protozoa. The displays here are old -- many seem to date from the '50s -- but what makes it worthwhile is the quality of the specimens: pretty corals, a giant crab that looks like a monster from a '50s horror movie, tarantulas in abundance, a vast collection of fish, and stuffed specimens of most of the mammals found in Brazil. A particular gross-out favorite was the protozoa room, chock-full of models and photographs of all the various parasites that feed on human flesh. Signage is in Portuguese, but is not essential to see and enjoy. I spent a good 2 hours here; others less keen on natural history could probably do it in an hour.
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