This collection came into being in the19th century, and by 1900 88 specimens had been collected and prepared. It was later supplemented with specimens from Africa and South American sent to the museum by emigrants. But few of the specimens have been preserved to this day, most impressive being the leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, the first one every noted in the Adriatic. It was taken in September 1894 off the islet of Sv. Nikola, near Budva in Montenegro. The then director of the Patriotic Museum, Baldo Kosić, prepared this example, a male 2.14 m long, weighing 500 kg. He also preserved the gullet and part of the skeleton, but unluckily during the shifting of the museum material over the years all traces of these objects were lost.
