Museum of Evolution of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Professor Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska organized an exhibition titled 'Dinosaurs of the Gobi Desert' in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. This exhibition was open from 1968 until 1984 and featured discoveries from Polish-Mongolian paleontological missions to the Gobi Desert.

The Museum of Evolution was founded in 1984 when the Institute of Paleobiology took over exhibition halls previously used by the Institute of Zoology in the Youth Palace, which is part of the Palace of Culture and Science.

The public was first granted access to the 'Evolution on Land' permanent exhibition in 1985. This exhibition was created by Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska with support from Andrzej Sulimski and others from the Institute of Paleobiology, featuring many specimens from Mongolia and contemporary creatures.

In 2001, a new display was opened showcasing Late Triassic amphibians and reptiles discovered in Krasiejów. The exhibit includes actual fossil material and life-size replicas of both land and marine species found at the site.

A life-size reconstruction of the Australopithecus specimen 'Lucy' was added to the museum's anthropology section in 2003, enhancing the exhibits on human evolution.

The Museum of Evolution's gallery saw further development in 2005, including the addition of two new skeletal reconstructions of the Mongolian dinosaurs Tarbosaurus and Opisthocoelicaudia, based on the latest scientific understanding of their anatomy.

In 2009, the permanent exhibition of the Museum of Evolution was significantly expanded to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's publication of 'On the Origin of Species'.

The majority of the dinosaur skeletons exhibited were discovered during Polish-Mongolian expeditions to the Gobi Desert in the 1960s and 1970s, under the leadership of Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska.

The museum showcases specimens from the Krasiejów site, including the relative of dinosaurs, Silesaurus, as well as the oldest frog skeleton discovered in Triassic rocks from the area of Cracow.

Casts of pterosaurs and early birds from the German Solnhofen limestone, considered excellent fossil specimens confirming Darwin's theory of evolution, are part of the museum's displays.

Professor Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska played a key role in organizing the 'Dinosaurs of the Gobi Desert' exhibition and the 'Evolution on Land' permanent exhibition, and led the Polish-Mongolian paleontological expeditions.

Professor Jerzy Dzik led a group of young scientists in making significant paleontological discoveries in Krasiejów, near Opole, uncovering a cemetery of Late Triassic reptiles and amphibians in 1993.