The Carlos de la Torre Museum of Natural Sciences in the City of Holguin houses one of the most important natural science collections in Cuba: embalmed birds and mammals, sponges, shells and snails, and a large collection of polymites.
Among the most valuable collections in the Carlos de La Torre Museum of Natural Sciences are two members of the royal woodpecker family that could be found in any museum in Cuba.
This bird is practically extinct and few specimens that have been seen recently were located in the most sudden places of the Sierra Maestra extension, where they have found refuge and protection from predators.
The Carlos de La Torre Museum of Natural Sciences in conjunction with other Cuban and foreign Natural Sciences institutions have organized some expeditions to locate members of the royal woodpecker family and take photographs of it, but they have not been successful so far.
The Carlos de La Torre Museum of Natural Sciences in the City of Holguin also has a display of the manatee (seacow). This native mammal is practically extinct in Cuba due to indiscriminate hunting.
The manatee belongs to the Sirenia family, made up of some types of dugongs and manatees, which are very similar and whose existence on the planet dates back thousands of years. Because of its habits, the manatee has been the subject of old legends. It is believed that mythical mermaids were the fruit of the imagination of sailors who saw these animals nursing their young in the water, in a maternal and almost human attitude.
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