Evolution - Humans & Diversity

A human-cougar ensemble by artist Nelly Schmücking forms the introduction to the first theme of the exhibition: the diversity of life that developed from the first primordial cell around 3.5 billion years ago and the commonalities of all living things. With the interactive monitor "Tree of Life", one can travel to the origin of life in search of our relatives. In the extensive "showcase of diversity", you will then find representatives from all groups of living beings. At a glance you can see bacteria and plants, fungi and cnidarians, echinoderms and fish ... all the way to mammals. And at the touch of a button you discover what we mammals have in common with our animal and plant relatives. Is it a spinal column? A nervous system? Or is it just the cells with a nucleus?

There are two animated films to choose from in the exhibition's cinema. One describes the origin of diversity, the other answers the question of how evolution actually works.

Expressive figurines by Berlin artist Lisa Büscher trace the history of human evolution from the 3.2 million year old pre-human "Lucy" to Homo sapiens. However, this path was by no means straightforward or even purposeful. Over millions of years, different species of humans colonised the earth, sometimes sharing the same habitat. Homo sapiens is the only representative of our human kin that has survived.