View source for National Museum of Natural History, France

{{Infobox museum
| name            = National Museum of Natural History
| native_name     = {{Lang|fr|Muséum national d'histoire naturelle|italic=no}}
| native_name_lang = fr
| image           = Paris 75005 Grande Galerie de l'Evolution 20070804.jpg
| caption         = Grand Gallery of Evolution of the National Museum of Natural History
| map_type        = France Paris
| map_caption     = Location within Paris
| coordinates     = {{Coord|48|50|32|N|02|21|22|E|type:landmark_region:FR|display=title}}
| established     = {{Start date and age|1793|06|10}}
| collection      = 67 million specimens<ref name="BILAN DU PREMIER RECOLEMENT 
DECENNAL DES MUSEES DE FRANCE">{{Cite web |url=http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/joconde/fr/partenaires/AIDEMUSEES/journee_RDterr_2014/diaporama-MCL.pdf |title=BILAN DU PREMIER RECOLEMENT DECENNAL DES MUSEES DE FRANCE |work=mnhn.fr |date=10 October 2014 |access-date=18 October 2021 |archive-date=14 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214150444/http://www2.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/joconde/fr/partenaires/AIDEMUSEES/journee_RDterr_2014/diaporama-MCL.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| location        = 57 Rue Cuvier, Paris, France
| type            = [[Natural history museum]], part of [[Sorbonne University]]
| visitors        = 3.8 million in 2023<ref>Le Figaro, January 14, 2024</ref>
| director        = Gilles Bloch
| publictransit   = [[Jussieu (Paris Métro)|Jussieu]] [[File:Metro-M.svg|20px]][[File:Paris m 7 jms.svg|20px]][[File:Paris m 10 jms.svg|20px]]<br />[[Place Monge (Paris Métro)|Place Monge]][[File:Metro-M.svg|20px]][[File:Paris m 7 jms.svg|20px]]<br />[[Gare d'Austerlitz|Austerlitz]] [[File:RER.svg|20px]] [[File:Paris rer C jms.svg|20px]]
| website         = {{URL|http://www.mnhn.fr/}}
| network         = Muséum national d'histoire naturelle
}}
In [[France]], the '''National Museum of Natural History''' ({{Langx|fr|'''Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle'''}} {{IPA|fr|myzeɔm nɑsjɔnal distwaʁ natyʁɛl|}}; '''MNHN''') is the national [[natural history museum]] of France and a {{lang|fr|[[grand établissement]]}} of higher education part of [[Sorbonne University]]. The main museum, with four galleries,  is located in [[Paris]], France, within the [[Jardin des Plantes]] on the left bank of the River [[Seine]]. It was formally founded in 1793, during the [[French Revolution]], but was begun even earlier in 1635 as the royal garden of medicinal plants. The museum now has 14 sites throughout France.

Since the 2014 reform, it has been headed by a chairman, assisted by deputy managing directors. The Museum has a staff of approximately 2,350 members, including six hundred researchers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Organigramme & rapports d'activité |url=https://www.mnhn.fr/fr/organigramme-rapports-d-activite |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle |language=fr |archive-date=2023-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206040142/https://www.mnhn.fr/fr/organigramme-rapports-d-activite |url-status=live }}</ref> It is a member of the national network of naturalist collections (RECOLNAT).

==History==
=== 17th–18th century ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Jardin du roi 1636.png|The Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants in 1636
File:Buffon statue dsc00979.jpg|Statue of [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon]] in the formal garden
File:Buffon, Georges Louis - Leclerc, comte de – Histoire naturelle, générale et particuliére, 1763 – BEIC 8822844.jpg|Buffon's "Natural History" (1763)
File:MNHN-logo.jpg|The museum's seal, designed in 1793, illustrates the three realms of Nature, Collective work, and the French Revolution.
</gallery>

The museum was formally established on June 10, 1793, by the [[French Convention]], the government during the [[French Revolution]], at the same time that it established the [[Louvre Museum]].<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Muséum national de'histoire naturalle" (2004, p.14</ref>  But its origins went back much further, to the Royal Garden of Medicinal Plants, which was created by King [[Louis XIII]] in 1635, and was directed and run by the royal [[physician]]s. A royal proclamation of the boy-king [[Louis XV]] on 31 March 1718, removed the purely medical function. Besides growing and studying plants useful for health, the royal garden offered public lectures on botany, chemistry, and comparative anatomy. In 1729, the chateau in the garden was enlarged with an upper floor, and transformed into the cabinet of natural history, designed for the royal collections of zoology and mineralogy. A series of greenhouses were constructed on the west side of the garden, to study the plants and animals collected by French explorers for their for medical and commercial uses.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Muséum national de'histoire naturelle" (2004), pp. 4–5</ref>

From 1739 until 1788, the garden was under the direction of [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon]], one of the leading [[natural history|naturalists]] of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]. Though he did not go on scientific expeditions himself, he wrote a monumental and influential work, "Natural History", in thirty-six volumes, published between 1749 and 1788. In his books, he challenged the traditional religious ideas that nature had not changed since the creation; he suggested that the earth was seventy-five thousand years old, divided into seven periods, with man arriving in the most recent. He also helped fund much research, through the iron foundry which he owned and directed.  His statue is prominently placed in front of the Gallery of Evolution.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Muséum national de'histoire naturelle" (2004), p. 10</ref>

Following the [[French Revolution]] the museum was reorganized, with twelve professorships of equal rank. Some of its early professors included eminent comparative anatomist [[Georges Cuvier]] and the pioneers of the theory of evolution, [[Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck]] and [[Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]]. The museum's aims were to instruct the public, put together collections and conduct scientific research. The naturalist [[Louis Jean Marie Daubenton]] wrote extensively about biology for the pioneer French [[Encyclopédie]], and gave his name to several newly discovered species. The museum sent its trained botanists on scientific expeditions around the world. Major figures in the museum included [[Déodat de Dolomieu]], who gave his name to the mineral [[dolomite (mineral)|dolomite]] and to a volcano on [[Réunion|Reunion]] island, and the botanist [[Rene Desfontaines]], who spent two years collecting plants for study Tunisia and Algeria, and whose book "Flora Atlantica"  (1798–1799, 2 vols), added three hundred genera new to science.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Muséum national de'histoire naturelle" (2004), p. 9</ref>

When [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] launched his military campaign to conquer Egypt in 1798, his army was accompanied by more than 154 scientists, including botanists, chemists, mineralogists, including [[Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]], [[Vivant Denon]], [[Joseph Fourier]], and [[Claude Louis Berthollet]], who together took back a large quantity of specimens and illustrations to enrich the collections of the museum.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Muséum national de'histoire naturelle" (2004), p. 15</ref>

=== 19th century ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Jardin des plantes.jpg|Plan of the Jardin des Plantes and its buildings in 1820 
File:Becquerel plate.jpg|The photographic plate of [[Henri Becquerel]], the first documented evidence of the [[radioactivity]] of uranium (1896)
File:Maison Singes MJP.jpg|Crowd outside the Palace of the Apes ({{circa|1900}}) in the [[Jardin des Plantes]]
</gallery>
The museum continued to flourish during the 19th century,  particularly under the direction of [[chemist]] [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]], His research with animal fats<ref>Chevreul, M.E., ''Recherches sur les corps gras d'origine animale,'' F.G. Levrault, Paris, 1823</ref> revolutionized the manufacture of soap and of candles and led to his isolation of the [[Heptadecanoic acid|heptadecanoic (margaric)]], stearic, and [[oleic acid|oleic]] [[fatty acid]]s. In the medical field, he was first to demonstrate that [[diabetes|diabetics]] excrete [[glucose]].<ref>Chevreul, M.E. ''Note sur le Sucre de Diabetes,'' Annales de Chemie, Paris 1815</ref> and to isolate [[creatine]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.scq.ubc.ca/an-introduction-to-creatine |title=An Introduction to Creatine |date=2016-11-23 |access-date=2021-08-15 |archive-date=2021-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815093235/https://www.scq.ubc.ca/an-introduction-to-creatine |url-status=live }}</ref>  His theories of color "provided the scientific basis for Impressionist and Neo-Impressionist painting."<ref>Itten, Johannes, ''The Art of Color,'' New York, 1961</ref>

[[Henri Becquerel]] held the chair for Applied Physics at the ''{{lang|fr|Muséum}}'' (1892–1908). By wrapping uranium salts in photographic paper, he first demonstrated the radioactive properties of [[uranium]].  In 1903, he shared the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Pierre Curie]] and [[Marie Curie]] for the discovery of spontaneous radioactivity.<ref>[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1903/becquerel/biographical/ Henri Becquerel – Biographical] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219232947/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1903/becquerel-bio.html |date=2017-12-19 }} Nobelprize.org.</ref> Four generations of Becquerels held this chairmanship, from 1838 to 1948.<ref>{{cite journal |author=A. Allisy |title=Henri Becquerel: The Discovery of Radioactivity |journal=Radiation Protection Dosimetry |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=3–10 |date=November 1, 1996 |url=http://rpd.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/1-2/3 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.rpd.a031848 |access-date=March 20, 2007 |archive-date=August 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828142117/http://rpd.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/68/1-2/3 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

As its collections grew, the museum was enlarged, with the construction of a new gallery of zoology. it was begun in 1877 and completed in 1889, for the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. A new [[Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy|gallery of paleontology and comparative anatomy]] was opened in 1898. The cost of construction drained the museum budget and it began to run short of funds. Its emphasis on teaching brought it into conflict with the [[University of Paris]], which had better political connections. It gradually scaled back its program of teaching and focused primarily on research and the museum collections.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Muséum national de'histoire naturelle" (2004), pp. 20–22</ref>

=== 20th–21st century ===
After receiving greater financial autonomy in 1907, it began a new phase of growth.  In 1934, the museum opened the [[Paris Zoological Park]], a new zoo to in the [[Bois de Vincennes]], as the home for the larger animals of the Menagerie of the [[Jardin des Plantes]]. In 1937, it opens the [[Musée de l'Homme]], a museum of anthropology located in [[Palais de Chaillot]], across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, in a building created for the [[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne|1937 Paris International Exposition]]. In recent decades, it has directed its research and education efforts at the effects on the environment of human exploitation. In French public administration, the ''{{lang|fr|Muséum}}'' is classed as a ''{{lang|fr|[[grand établissement]]}}'' of higher education.

Some of the buildings, particularly the Grand Gallery of Evolution, completed in 1889, were in poor condition by the mid-20th century. It was closed entirely in 1965, then underwent major restoration between 1991 and 1994 to its present state.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Muséum national de'histoire naturelle" (2004), pp. 20–22</ref>

In August 2025, the museum returned the skull of the Malagasy King [[Toera]] of [[Menabe]], who was killed by French colonial soldiers in [[Franco-Hova Wars|1897]], to Madagascar along with the skulls of two of his companions after more than a century of keeping the skulls in its archives.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-08-26 |title=France returns slain king's skull to Madagascar |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0qejppp7o |access-date=2025-08-26 |work=BBC |language=en}}</ref>

On 16 September 2025, multiple gold artefacts valued at €600,000 were stolen following a heist at the museum.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-09-17 |title=Gold worth 600,000 euros stolen in Paris museum heist |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250917-gold-worth-600-000-euros-stolen-in-paris-museum-heist |access-date=2025-09-17 |work=France 24 |language=en}}</ref> A suspect was charged on 21 October 2025 in connection with the heist.<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/world/europe/france-museum-theft-gold-nugget-arrest.html</ref>

== Plan ==
[[File:Jardin_des_plantes_de_Paris_-_OpenStreetMap_2020.svg|center|300px|Plan showing galleries of the National Museum of Natural History, within the Jardin des Plantes Paris]]

== Galleries and gardens ==
The birthplace of the museum and a large part of its modern collections are found in five galleries in the [[Jardin des Plantes]]. These are the Gallery of Evolution; the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology; the Gallery of Botany; the [[Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy]] and the Laboratory of Entomology.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), p. 38</ref>

=== The Grand Gallery of Evolution ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Paris 75005 Grande Galerie de l'Evolution 20070804.jpg|Garden facade of the Grand Gallery of Evolution
File:Great gallery of evolution, Paris 1 July 2015.jpg|Interior of the Grand Gallery of Evolution
File:MNHN grande galerie de l'Évolution 2014.jpg|Parade of African mammals
File:Gypaetus barbatus 01 by Line1.JPG|A stuffed bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)
File:Giant squid (Architeuthis sanctipauli) replica in Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (France).jpg|A plastified [[giant squid]], nine meters long, in the Gallery of Evolution
File:Escalier nord de la Grande galerie de l'Évolution dans le Jardin des Plantes à Paris le 22 février 2018 - 19.jpg| Statue of Buffon by Pajou
</gallery>
The National Museum of Natural History has been called "the Louvre of the Natural Sciences".<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), p. 38</ref> Its largest and best-known gallery is the Grand Gallery of Evolution, located at the end of the central alley facing the formal garden. It replaced an earlier Neoclassical gallery built next to the same by Buffon, opened in 1785, and demolished in 1935. It was proposed in 1872 and begun in 1877 by the architect [[Louis-Jules André]], a teacher at the influential [[École des Beaux-Arts]] in Paris. It is a prominent example of [[Beaux Arts Architecture]]. It was opened in 1889 for the [[Exposition Universelle (1889)|Paris Universal Exposition of 1889]], which also presented the [[Eiffel Tower]]. It was never fully completed in its original design; it never received the neoclassical entrance planned for the side of the building away from the garden,  facing Rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), p. 38</ref>

The facade of the building was designed specifically as a backdrop for the garden. The facade facing the garden is divided into eleven traverses. Ten are decorated with sculpted medallions honouring prominent French scientists associated with the museum. The central traverse has a larger marble statue of a woman seated holding a book, in a pose similar to that of statue of Buffon facing the building.  The statues are the work of [[Eugene Guillaume]], a pupil of the sculptor Pradier.

While the building exterior was neo-classical, the iron framework of the interior was extremely modern for the 19th century, like that of the [[Gare d'Orsay]] railroad station of the same period. It contained an immense rectangular hall, 55 meters long, 25 wide and 15 meters high, supported by forty slender cast-iron columns, and was originally covered with a glass roof one thousand square meters in size.The building suffered from technical problems, and was closed entirely in 1965. It was extensively remodelled between 1991 and 1994 and reopened in its present form.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), p. 39</ref>

The great central hall, kept in its same form but enlarged during the modernisation,  is devoted to the presentation of marine animals on the lower sides, and, on a platform in the center, a parade of full-size African mammals, including a [[rhinoceros]] originally presented to King Louis XV in the 18th century. On the garden side is another hall, in its original size, devoted to animals which have disappeared or are in danger of extinction.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), pp. 40–41</ref>

=== Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:La galerie de géologie du jardin des plantes à Paris.jpg|Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology
File:Malachite and azurite Morenci MNHN Minéralogie n1.jpg|Examples of [[malachite]] and [[azurite]], donated by J.P. Morgan in 1903
File:Or natif et quartz Californie.jpg|Native gold and quartz from California 
File:Quartz Uruguay dation Caillois.jpg|[[Quartz]] from Uruguay 
File:Amethyst Siberia MNHN Minéralogie.jpg|[[Amethyst]] from [[Siberia]]
File:Météorite Canyon Diablo.JPG|Fragment of the [[Canyon Diablo (meteorite)|Canyon Diablo Meteorite]] which created [[Meteor Crater]] in Arizona
</gallery>
The Gallery of Mineralogy, looking across the formal garden and close to the Gallery of Evolution,  was constructed between 1833 and 1837 by [[Charles Rohault de Fleury]] in a neoclassical style, with two porticos of Doric columns. Directly in front is the rose garden, renewed in 1990 with 170 types of European roses, as well as a [[Styphnolobium japonicum]] or Japanese pagoda tree, planted there by [[Bernard de Jussieu]] in 1747.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), p. 42</ref>

The gallery contains over 600,000 stones and fossils. It is particularly known for its collection of giant crystals, including colourful examples of [[azurite]], [[Tourmaline]] (Rubelite), [[Malachite]] and [[Ammonite]]. Other displays include the jars and vestiges of the original royal apothecary of Louis XIV, and three Florentine marble marquetry tables from the palace of [[Cardinal Mazarin]].<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), pp. 42–43</ref>

The gallery also contains a large collection of [[meteorites]], gathered from around the world. These include a large fragment of [[Canyon Diablo (meteorite)|Canyon Diablo meteorite]], a piece of an [[asteroid]] which fell in Arizona about 550,000 years ago, and created the [[Meteor crater]]. It weighs 360 kilograms (970 pounds).<ref>[https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis.fr/fr/programme/galeries-jardins-zoo-bibliotheques/galerie-geologie-mineralogie-2769] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823174529/https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis.fr/fr/programme/galeries-jardins-zoo-bibliotheques/galerie-geologie-mineralogie-2769|date=2021-08-23}} site of the Jardin des Plantes- Gallery of Geology and Mineralogy</ref>

=== Gallery of Botany ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Galerie de Botanique rue Buffon à Paris le 22 février 2018 - 1.jpg|The Gallery of Botany. At left is the [[Robinia pseudoacacia]], one of the oldest two trees in Paris,  planted in 1635 by Vespasien Robin
File:MNHN-bota-7.jpg|Slice of a giant Sequoia tree in the Gallery of Botany 
File:Nepenthes mirabilis herbarium specimen.jpg|Specimen of [[Nepenthes mirabilis]], (tropical pitcher plant) from Southeast Asia, one of 7.5 million plants in the Herbier National 
File:Coffea guianensis Aubl. s.n. MNHN P-P00777933.jpg|"Coffea guianensis", Coffee plant from Guyana, collected by [[Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet]] in 1775
</gallery>
The Gallery of Botany is on the Allée the Buffon facing the centre of the garden, between the Gallery of Mineralogy and the Gallery of Paleontology. At the corner is one of the two oldest trees in Paris, a [[Robinia pseudoacacia]] or black locust, planted in 1635 by Vespasien Robin, the royal gardener and botanist, from an earlier tree brought from America by his brother, also a botanist, in 1601. It is tied in age with another from the same source planted at the same time on the square of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), p. 42</ref>

The Gallery was built in 1930–35 with a grant from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]]. Directly in front is a statue entitled "Science and Mystery" by J.L.D. Schroeder, made in 1889. It represents the enigma of and old man meditating over an egg and a chicken, pondering which came first.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette (2004), p. 44</ref>

The primary content of the gallery is the Herbier National, a collection representing 7.5 million plants collected since the founding of the museum. They are divided for study into [[Spermatophytes]], plants which reproduce with seeds, and [[cryptogams]], plants which reproduce with [[spores]], such as [[algae]], [[lichens]] and [[mushrooms]].  Many of the plants were collected by [[Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet]], the royal pharmacist and botanist in [[French Guiana]]. In 1775 he published his "Histoire des plantes de la Guiane Française"  describing 576 genera and 1,241 species of neotropical plants, including more than 400 species that were new to science, at a time when only 20,000 plants had been described,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mori |first1=Scott A. |title=Jean Baptiste Christophe Fusée Aublet (1720–1778) |url=https://www.nybg.org/botany/mori/lecythidaceae/publications/AUBLET/Aublet_main.htm |website=NYBG |publisher=New York Botanic Garden |access-date=2021-08-25 |archive-date=2021-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010111816/https://www.nybg.org/botany/mori/lecythidaceae/publications/AUBLET/Aublet_main.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ground floor interior of the gallery has vestibules built in a combination of Art Deco and Neo-Egyptian styles. It is used for temporary exhibits.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette (2004), p. 44</ref> The exhibits include a slice of a giant [[Sequoiadendron giganteum|Sequoia]] tree, 2200 years old, which fell naturally in 1917.

=== The Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Façade principale de la galerie de Paléontologie.jpg|Facade of the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy
File:Galerie paleontologie entrance mnhn paris.jpg|Relief sculpture and ironwork on the entrance of the gallery 
File:Museum of Natural History, Paris August 2013 002.jpg|Dinosaur gallery 
File:Lebka tyranosaura.jpg|Skull cast of a [[Tyrannosaurus rex]]
File:Aepyornis frontNeu.jpg|Skeleton of an [[Aepyornis]], or Elephant Bird 
File:Cynthiacetus peruvianus skull.JPG|Jaw of a [[Cynthiacetus]], an early whale, from Peru 
File:MammuthusMeridionalis1.jpg|Skeleton of a [[Mammuthus meridionalis|Southern Mammoth]]
File:Palaeotherium magnum skeleton complete.JPG|Skeleton of ''[[Palaeotherium]]'', an early [[Equoidea|equoid]]
</gallery>
{{main|Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy}}
The Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy was built between 1894 and 1897 by architect [[Ferdinand Dutert]], who had built the innovative iron-framed [[Galerie des machines]] at the [[Exposition Universelle (1889)|1889 Paris Exposition]].  A new pavilion in the same style was added to the west side of the gallery; it was completed in 1961. In front of the Gallery is the Iris Garden, created in 1964, which displays 260 varieties of iris flowers, and a sculpture, "Nymph with a pitcher" (1837) by Isidore Hippolyte Brion.  The sides of gallery are also decorated with sculpture; twelve relief sculptures of animals in bronze and fourteen medallions of famous biologists. The ironwork grill and stone arches over the entrance are filled with elaborate designs and sculpture of seashells.  Inside the entrance is a large marble statue of an [[Orangutan]] strangling a hunter, created in 1885 by the noted animal sculptor [[Emmanuel Fremiet]], best known for his statue of [[Joan of Arc]] on horseback on the [[Place des Pyramides]] in Paris.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette (2004), p. 45</ref>

=== Jardin des Plantes ===

{{main|Jardin des plantes}}
The [[Jardin des plantes]] is the home of the main galleries of the National Museum of Natural History, and a division of the museum, which was born there. The garden was founded by Louis XIII 1635 as the Royal Garden of medicinal plants, under the direction of the royal physician. In the early 18th century, the chateau of the gardens was enlarged to house the collections of the royal pharmacist. In 1729, this collection was broadened into the Cabinet of Natural History, destined to receive the Royal collections dedicated to zoology and mineralogy. New plants and animal species were collected from around the world, examined, illustrated, classified, named and described in publications which were circulated across Europe and to America.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette (2004), pp. 4–5</ref> An amphitheater was constructed in the garden in 1787 to provide a venue for lectures and classes on the new discoveries. New greenhouses were built beginning in 1788, and the size of the gardens was doubled. The gardens served as the laboratory of scientists including [[Jean Baptiste Lamarck]], author of the earliest theory of evolution, and were a base for major scientific expeditions by [[Nicolas Baudin]], [[Alexander von Humboldt]], [[Jules Dumont d'Urville]] and others throughout the 18th and 19th century.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette (2004), pp. 28–29</ref>

The gardens today include a large formal garden planted in geometric designs; and two enormous greenhouses, keeping tropical plants at a steady temperature of 22 degrees Celsius. The Alpine gardens present plants coming from Corsica, the Caucasus, North American and the Himalaya. The gardens of the School of Botany contain 3,800 species of plants, displayed by genre and family.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady and Labalette (2004), pp. 28–29</ref>

=== Ménagerie of the Jardin des Plantes ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:RotondeOuest1.JPG|The Rotunda of the Menagerie
File:Flamants rouges - Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes.jpg|Pink [[flamingoes]] in the Menagerie
File:Enclos Mangouste Menagerie.jpg|Enclosure for [[Mongooses]] 
File:Panthères de Chine.JPG|[[Amur leopard]]s
</gallery>
{{main|Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes}}
The Menagerie is the second-oldest public zoo in the world still in operation, following the [[Tiergarten Schönbrunn]] in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1752.<ref>[https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis.fr/en/going-further/history-menagerie-zoo-jardin-plantes-2992] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807152235/https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis.fr/en/going-further/history-menagerie-zoo-jardin-plantes-2992|date=2021-08-07}} Site of the Jardin des Plantes (in English)</ref> It occupies the northeast side of the garden along the Quai St. Bernard, covering five hectares (13.6 acres). It was created between 1798 and 1836 as a home for the animals of the royal menagerie at Versailles, which were largely abandoned after the [[French Revolution]]. Its architecture features picturesque "fabriques", or pavilions, mostly created in the 19th century, to shelter the animals. In the 20th century the larger animals were moved to the [[Paris Zoological Park]], a more extensive site in the [[Bois de Vincennes]]. also governed by the National Museum of Natural History. The menagerie is currently home to about six hundred mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, representing about 189 species.<ref>Deligeorges, Gady, Labalette, "Le Jardin des Plantes et le Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle" (2004), p. 58</ref> These include the [[Amur leopard]] from China, one of the rarest cats on earth.

==Mission and organization==
The museum has as its mission both research (fundamental and applied) and public diffusion of knowledge. It is organized into seven research and three diffusion departments.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/transverse/transverse/accueil.xsp |title=Muséum national d'histoire naturelle; official website |access-date=2008-02-16 |archive-date=2008-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226074803/http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/transverse/transverse/accueil.xsp |url-status=live }}</ref>

The research departments are:
* Classification and Evolution
* Regulation, Development, and Molecular Diversity
* Aquatic Environments and Populations
* [[Ecology]] and [[Biodiversity]] Management
* [[History of Earth]]
* Men, Nature, and Societies, and
* [[Prehistory]]

The diffusion departments are:
* The Galleries of the ''{{lang|fr|Jardin des Plantes}}''
* Botanical Parks and Zoos, and
* The Museum of Man (''{{lang|fr|[[Musée de l'Homme]]}}'')

The museum also developed higher education, and now delivers a master's degree.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/science/science/Enseignement/rubmastere/sspresentmaster.xsp?i=1 |title=Official website |access-date=2010-12-12 |archive-date=2010-08-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830142930/http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/science/science/Enseignement/rubmastere/sspresentmaster.xsp?i=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Galerie de Paléontologie.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Main façade of the Gallery of Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy.]]

==Location and branches==

The museum comprises fourteen sites<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/national/national/presentation/rub-connaitre/ss-connaitre/fiche-connaitre.xsp?ARTICLE_ARTICLE_ID=678&idx=4&nav=liste |title=Implantations, site of the MNHN |access-date=2012-05-25 |archive-date=2012-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709172034/http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/national/national/presentation/rub-connaitre/ss-connaitre/fiche-connaitre.xsp?ARTICLE_ARTICLE_ID=678&idx=4&nav=liste |url-status=live }}</ref> throughout France with four in Paris, including the [[Jardin des Plantes]] in the [[5th arrondissement of Paris|5th arrondissement]]. ([[Paris Métro|métro]] [[Place Monge (Paris Metro)|Place Monge]]).

The [[herbarium]] of the museum, referred to by code '''P''', includes a large number of important collections amongst its 8 000 000 plant specimens. The historical collections incorporated into the herbarium, each with its P prefix, include those of [[Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck]] (P-LA) [[René Louiche Desfontaines]] (P-Desf.), [[Joseph Pitton de Tournefort]] and [[Charles Plumier]] (P-TRF). The designation at [[CITES]] is FR 75A. It publishes the botanical periodical ''[[Adansonia (journal)|Adansonia]]'' and journals on the [[flora]] of New Caledonia, Madagascar and Comoro Islands, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, Cameroon, and Gabon.<ref name="Index Herbariorum">{{cite web |url=http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/herbarium.php?irn=125382 |title=Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle |last=Holmgren |first=P. K. |author2=N. H. Holmgren. |date=2008 |work=Index Herbariorum |publisher=The New York Botanical Garden |access-date=2009-03-10 |archive-date=2023-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718023807/https://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/?irn=125382 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ''{{lang|fr|[[Musée de l'Homme]]}}'' is also in Paris, in the [[16th arrondissement of Paris|16th arrondissement]] ([[Paris Métro|métro]] [[Trocadéro (Paris Metro)|Trocadéro]]).  It houses displays in [[ethnography]] and [[physical anthropology]], including [[artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]], [[fossil]]s, and other objects.

[[File:Menton - Val Rahmeh 001.jpg|thumb|upright|''{{lang|fr|[[Allée]]}}'' of palms in the ''{{lang|fr|[[Jardin botanique exotique de Menton]]}}'']]
Also part of the museum are:
* Three [[zoo]]s, the [[Paris Zoological Park]] (''{{lang|fr|Parc zoologique de Paris}}'', also known as the ''{{lang|fr|Zoo de Vincennes}}''), at the ''{{lang|fr|[[Bois de Vincennes]]}}'' in the [[12th arrondissement of Paris|12th arrondissement]], the [[Cleres Zoological Park]] (''{{lang|fr|Parc zoologique de Clères}}''), at a [[medieval]] manor in [[Clères]] ([[Seine-Maritime]]) and the [[Haute Touche Zoological Park]] in [[Obterre]] ([[Indre]]), the largest in France,
* Three botanical parks, the ''{{lang|fr|[[Arboretum de Chèvreloup]]}}'' in [[Rocquencourt, Yvelines|Rocquencourt]] next to the ''{{lang|fr|[[Château de Versailles]]}}'', the ''{{lang|fr|[[Jardin botanique exotique de Menton]]}}'' and the ''{{lang|fr|Jardin alpin de La Jaÿsinia}}'' in [[Samoëns]],
* Two museums, the ''{{lang|fr|Musée de l'abri Pataud}}'' in [[Les Eyzies-de-Tayac]] and the ''{{lang|fr|[[Harmas de Fabre|Harmas]] de [[Jean-Henri Fabre|Fabre]]}}'' in [[Sérignan-du-Comtat]],
* Four scientific sites, the ''{{lang|fr|Institut de Paléontologie humaine}}'' in Paris, the ''{{lang|fr|Centre d'Écologie générale de [[Brunoy]]}}'', the ''{{lang|fr|Station de Biologie marine et Marinarium de [[Concarneau]]}}'' and the ''{{lang|fr|CRESCO (Centre de Recherche et d'Enseignement sur les Systèmes Côtiers)}}'' in [[Dinard]].

==Chairs==
[[File:Henri Rousseau - Fight Between a Tiger and a Buffalo.jpg|thumb|left|Dreamlike paintings of [[Henri Rousseau|Henri "Douanier" Rousseau]] were inspired by visits to the ''{{lang|fr|Jardin des Plantes}}'']]
The transformation of the ''{{lang|fr|Jardin}}'' from the medicinal garden of the king to a national public museum of natural history required the creation of twelve chaired positions. Over the ensuing years the number of Chairs and their subject areas evolved, some being subdivided into two positions and others removed. The [[list of Chairs of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle|list of Chairs of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle]] includes major figures in the history of the [[Natural science]]s. Early chaired positions were held by [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]], [[René Desfontaines]] and [[Georges Cuvier]], and later occupied by [[Paul Rivet]], [[Léon Vaillant]] and others.

==In popular culture==
The [[galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée|Gallery of Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy]] and other parts of ''Jardin des Plantes'' was a source of inspiration for French graphic novelist [[Jacques Tardi]]. The gallery appears on the first page and several subsequent pages of ''{{lang|fr|Adèle et la bête}}'' (''Adèle and the Beast''; 1976), the first album in the series of ''{{lang|fr|[[Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec]]}}''. The story opens with a 136-million-year-old [[pterodactyl]] egg hatching, and a live pterodactyl escaping through the gallery glass roof, wreaking havoc and killing people in Paris. (The Gallery of Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy returned the favor by placing a life size cardboard cutout of Adèle and the hatching pterodactyl in a glass cabinet outside the main entrance on the top floor balcony).

The [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction|Pulitzer Prize]]–winning novel [[All the Light We Cannot See]], by [[Anthony Doerr]], partially takes place at the natural history museum; the father of the protagonist Marie-Laure works as the chief locksmith of the museum.

==Directors of the museum==
[[File:Alphonse Milne-Edwards par Truchelut et Valkman BNF Gallica.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Alphonse Milne-Edwards]], director of the museum at the end of the 19th century.]]
{{clear left}}
Directors elected for one year:
{{colbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* 1793–1794: [[Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton]]
* 1794–1795: [[Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu]]
* 1795–1796: [[Bernard Germain de Lacépède|Bernard Germain Étienne de Laville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède]]
* 1796–1797: [[Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton]]
* 1797–1798: [[Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton]]
* 1798–1799: [[Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu]]
* 1799–1800: [[Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu]]
{{colend}}
Directors elected for two years:
{{colbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* 1800–1801: [[Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy|Antoine-François Fourcroy]]
* 1802–1803: [[René Desfontaines]]
* 1804–1805: [[Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy|Antoine-François Fourcroy]]
* 1806–1807: [[René Desfontaines]]
* 1808–1809: [[Georges Cuvier]]
* 1810–1811: [[René Desfontaines]]
* 1812–1813 : [[André Laugier]]
* 1814–1815 : [[André Thouin]]
* 1816–1817 : [[André Thouin]]
* 1818–1819 : [[André Laugier]]
* 1820–1821 : [[René Desfontaines]]
* 1822–1823 : [[Georges Cuvier]]
* 1824–1825 : [[Louis Cordier]]
* 1826–1827: [[Georges Cuvier]]
* 1828–1829: [[René Desfontaines]]
* 1830–1831: [[Georges Cuvier]]
* 1832–1833: [[Louis Cordier]]
* 1834–1835: [[Adrien de Jussieu]]
* 1836–1837: [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Night at}}</ref>
* 1838–1839: [[Louis Cordier]]
* 1840–1841: [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]
* 1842–1843: [[Adrien de Jussieu]]
* 1844–1845: [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]
* 1846–1847: [[Adolphe Brongniart]]
* 1848–1849: [[Adrien de Jussieu]]
* 1850–1851: [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]
* 1852–1853: [[André Marie Constant Duméril]]
* 1854–1855: [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]
* 1856–1857: [[Marie Jean Pierre Flourens]]
* 1858 to 1859: [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]
* 1860–1861: [[Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]]
* 1862–1863: [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]
{{colend}}
Directors elected for five years:
{{colbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* 1863–1879: [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]]
* 1879–1891: [[Edmond Frémy]]
* 1891–1900: [[Alphonse Milne-Edwards]]
* 1900–1919: [[Edmond Perrier]]
* 1919–1931: [[Louis Mangin]]
* 1932–1936: [[Paul Lemoine]]
* 1936–1942: [[Louis Germain]]
* 1942–1949: [[Achille Urbain]]
* 1950: [[René Jeannel]]
* 1951–1965: [[Roger Heim]]
* 1966–1970: [[Maurice Fontaine (biologist)|Maurice Fontaine]]
* 1971–1975: [[Yves Le Grand]]
* 1976–1985: [[Jean Dorst]]
* 1985–1990: [[Philippe Taquet]]
* 1994–1999: [[Henry de Lumley]]
{{colend}}
Presidents elected for five years:
{{colbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* 2002–2006: [[Bernard Chevassus-au-Louis]]
* 2006–2008: [[André Menez]] (deceased in February 2008)
* 2009–2015: [[Gilles Boeuf]]
* 2015–2023: {{ill|Bruno David|fr}}
* 2023–present: [[Gilles Bloch]]
{{colend}}

==Friends==
The [[Friends of the Natural History Museum Paris]] is a private organization that provides financial support for the museum, its branches and the ''{{lang|fr|Jardin des Plantes}}''. Membership includes free entry to all galleries of the museum and the botanical garden.  The Friends have assisted the museum with many purchases for its collections over the years, as well as funds for scientific and structural development.

== Pictures gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed">
Galerie d'Anatomie comparée - Muséum national d'histoire naturelle.jpg|A)
Statue_Bernardin-de-Saint-Pierre.JPG|B)
Jardin Alpin.JPG|C)
P1040589 Paris V Jardin des plantes batiment rwk.JPG|D)
P1240528 Paris V jardin des plantes paleo hercule rwk.jpg|E)
Péristyle et fronton de l'aile droite de la galerie de Minéralogie et de Géologie dans le Jardin des plantes, à Paris, le 22 février 2018 - 54.jpg|F)
Serre cactees JdP.jpg|G)
P1240507 Paris V jardin des Plantes maison Cuvier rwk.jpg|H)
BecquerelCuvier2.JPG|I)
Galeries d'Anatomie comparée et de Paléontologie. Paris.jpg|J)
La « fabrique » des chevaux de Przewalski après rénovation.jpg|K)
Palais de Chaillot (303).jpg|L)
Jardin botanique alpin La Jaÿsinia - Musée.jpg|M)
Abri Pataud - Les Eyzies de Tayac - 20090922.jpg|N)
</gallery>

:captions:<br />
A) The cetaceum (podium of cetaceans), in the Comparative Anatomy gallery<br />
B) Statue of [[Bernardin de Saint-Pierre]], with [[Paul and Virginia]]<br />
C) The alpine garden<br />
D) The Hôtel de Magny<br />
E) The gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy, with the statue of the First Artist by [[Paul Richer]]<br />
F) The Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology<br />
G) The greenhouse of New Caledonia built between 1834 and 1836 (at the time the "oriental pavilion") according to the plans of Charles Rohault de Fleury<br />
H) [[Cuvier]]'s house on the left and the triangular pediment of the east wing of the Whale Pavilion on the right<br />
I) The Becquerel alley, north side, leads to Cuvier's house where [[Henri Becquerel]] discovered radioactivity in 1896
J) The Paleontology gallery, on the second floor, with its mezzanine. The second floor exhibits the vertebrate fossils and the mezzanine the invertebrate fossils<br />
K) One of the zoological shelters of the menagerie<br />
L The façade of the Musée de l'Homme, in the southwest wing of the [[Palais de Chaillot]]<br />
M The botanical museum of La Jaÿsinia, in the Alps<br />
N The excavations of the [[Abri Pataud|Pataud shelter]], in Dordogne<br />.

==See also==
* [[List of museums in Paris]]
* [[List of tourist attractions in Paris]]

==Notes and citations==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography (in French)==
*{{cite book |last1=Deligeorges |first1=Stephane |last2=Gady |first2=Alexandre |last3=Labalette |first3=Françoise |title=Le Jardin des plantes et le Muséum national d'histoire naturelle |date=2004 |language=French |publisher=Éditions du Patrimoine- Centre des Monuments Nationaux |isbn=978-2-85822-601-6}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Muséum national d'histoire naturelle}}
* [http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/foffice/transverse/transverse/accueil.xsp?cl=en MNHN official website] ''(English version)''
* [http://www.museum-mineral.fr/home.php?changelg=en the Virtual Gallery of Mineralogy] ''(English version)''
* [http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=musee+d%27histoire+naturelle Flickr] Mostly Paris, some Lille.
* [http://www.paris-attractions.com/museum-national-d-histoire-naturelle/ Photos of {{Lang|fr|Muséum national d'histoire naturelle|italic=no}}] ''(English version)''

{{Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel}}
{{Public universities and higher education institutes in France}}
{{Visitor attractions in Paris}}
{{Portal bar|Biology}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Fossil museums in France]]
[[Category:1793 establishments in France]]
[[Category:Museums in Paris|Natural history]]
[[Category:Natural history museums in France]]
[[Category:National museums of France|Natural history]]
[[Category:Grands établissements]]
[[Category:5th arrondissement of Paris]]
[[Category:Herbaria in Europe|France]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1793]]