Audio GuideGalerie de Paléontologie et d’Anatomie comparée

Welcome to the Galerie de Paléontologie et d’Anatomie comparée, a treasure trove of natural history nestled in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris near Gare d’Austerlitz. This historic space, part of the French National Museum of Natural History and designated a musée de France, was built between eighteen ninety-three and eighteen ninety-eight by the renowned architect Ferdinand Dutert. The building, spanning roughly two thousand five hundred square meters, features an elegant stone and metal structure with large windows and intricate decorative art.

Barry Fong

Inside, visitors journey through natural history on two main levels. The ground floor presents a captivating collection of comparative anatomy with nearly one thousand skeletons, while the first floor houses a remarkable paleontology exhibit. Among the highlights are a cast of the Tyrannosaurus rex skull, a genuine woolly mammoth skeleton preserved outside its native land, and a plaster cast of Diplodocus carnegii that sparked early dinosaur enthusiasm in France. The gallery once also featured anthropological displays on its top floor until they moved in nineteen thirty-seven.

Stefanie Hoppe

The building’s rich façade and interior are adorned with artful sculptures and decorative friezes. A celebrated work by André-Joseph Allar graces the exterior, and a sculpture by Emmanuel Frémiet captures a scene of a Malay hunter with an orangutan, reflecting the era’s view of the connection between man and nature.

Youness Ait El Cadi

Established from the early collections organized under Georges Cuvier in the early nineteenth century, this venue remains an essential cultural and educational destination. The gallery invites visitors to explore the dynamic interplay between science and art while celebrating the evolution of life on Earth.