The Fossil Mammal Collection currently contains approximately 80,000 macroscopic items and about 1 million small mammal remains. These include 41 types and over 1,500 originals. The special collection of hominids comprises approximately 500 items with over 20 originals.

The Hominid Collection is a small collection, mainly used for teaching purposes. It predominantly contains casts of skulls, palaeolithic tools and an original tooth of Australopithecus afarensis from the southern Serengeti (Tanzania). Besides the considerable number of collected specimens from East Africa, there is a large number of Pleistocene mammals collected during Margarethe L. Selenka’s (1860-1922) expedition to Trinil on Java, where the famous first Homo erectus was found. There are also many finds of fossil mammals from other countries such as China, the U.S.A., Egypt, Greece, the Netherlands and several countries of South America.

The Fossil Mammal Collection is a dry collection arranged in systematic order. Collection materials are diverse and include fossilised bones, subfossil bones, ivory, remains of fur, casts, models, field notes and maps.