Nation Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History presents many spaces dedicated to knowledge.

The Great Hall of Evolution

It is a 6 000 m2 permanente exhibition, devoted to the evolution of life.

It is divided into three themes :

• The first theme illustrates the diversity of the living world today ;
• The second thme shows how living organisms have developped throughout the history of life on earth;
• The third theme explains how human activity has affected the environment, sometimes irreversibly, and how Man became a factor in évolution. One of the rooms presents a magnificent collection of specimens of endangered species – plus some wich are already extinct. there are also sepcail teaching and cultural areas, a temporary exhibition room and an auditorium.

36 Rue Geoffroy Saint Hilaire – 75005 Paris
Open daily from 10am – 6pm ; Thursday until 10pm
Closed on Tuesday and May 1st
Special lectures : Thursdays at 6pm
Shop. Cafeteria.

The comparative Anatomy and Palaeontology Galleries

The Gallery of comparative Anatomy gives a comprehensive view of the world of vertebrates, with an impressive collection of nearly a thousand skeletons. The Gallery of Palaeontology offers the public an exceptionally fine collection of fossils, dinosaurs, mastodons, shells, giant birds and insects etc…

Some specimens, such as the Mosasaurus of Maastricht and the Palaeotherium from Montmartre Gypsum studied by Georges Cuvier, are of great historical importance.

2 Rue Buffon – 75005 Paris.
Open daily from 10am to 5pm.
From 10am to 6pm on saturdays and Sundays from April to October.
Closed on Tuesdays and May 1st. Shop.

The Great Glasshouses

The Jardin des Plantes has two extremely impressive glasshouses :

• the tropical hothouse with its hot, humid atmosphere, containing banana trees, ficus, cycads, pandanus, ferns and the Mexican hothouse, with plants such as the American cactus,
• the Mexican agave, plants found only in Madagascar and succulent plants from southern Africa – a total of several thousand plant species.

57 Rue Cuvier – 75005 Paris
Open daily from 1pm to 5pm on weekdays, from 10am to 5pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and from 10am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays from April to October.
Closed on Tuesdays and May 1st.

Library and Media Library

The central library of National MUseum of Natural History was founded in 1793 and is one of the richest in the world in the special fields.

The media library was opened in 1994 and offers admission free access to books, periodicals, still pictures, films and sound documents.

38 Rue Geoffroy Saint Hilaire – 75005 Paris
The library is open from Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 7pm and Saturdays from 9.30am to 5.30pm
The media library is open from Moday to Saturday from 12pm to 6pm.
Information : 01 33 1 40 79 36 27

Gallery of Entomology

The Gallery of Entomology features 1500 specimens, chosen amongst the world’s most beautiful or most astonishing insects, revealing the spectacular variety of shapes, colours ans adaptations which exist in the insect world.

45 Rue Buffon – 75005 Paris.
Open Daily from 1pm to 5pm on weekdays.
From 10am to 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays from November to March
and until 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays from April to October.
Closed on Tuesdays and May 1st.

Menagerie

This is one of the oldest zoological gardens in the world, with 240 mammals, 500 birds and 130 reptiles in a 5.5 ha. park.

3, quai St Bernard 75005 Paris
Open daily from 9am to 5pm.
Cafetaria. Restaurant.