The Museum of Natural History, Wroc³aw University, is the largest institution of this kind in Poland. It came into existence in 1814. Its collections comprise numerous unique specimens of extinct and rare species such as the Great Auk Alca impennis, Passenger Pigeon Ectopistes migratorius, Carolina Parakeet Conuropsis carolinensis, Huia Heteralocha acutirostris or Marsupial Wolf Thylacinus cynocephalus.