Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy Museum

Address: Galerie de Paléontologie et d’Anatomie comparée, 43 Rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France (Jardin des Plantes)

Website: https://www.mnhn.fr/

Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00am-6:00pm, closed Mondays (part of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle; check for temporary closures)

Admission: Adults €7-9 (approx.); reduced rates for students and youth; free for children under 3

The Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy is a specialist natural-history museum located in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and forms part of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle. The galleries occupy a distinctive late 19th-century iron-and-glass building and present extensive scientific collections rather than a single historic monument.

Displays are arranged by fossil groups and by anatomical comparisons, with mounted skeletons, skulls and fossil cases on multiple levels for close viewing. The layout emphasizes evolutionary relationships and anatomy across vertebrates and invertebrates, and the presentation is used for both public education and research reference.

The collections were assembled by the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle over many decades for scientific study and public display; the building and galleries reflect late 19th-century museum design adapted for anatomical and paleontological material. Over time the displays have been reorganized to reflect advances in systematics and conservation practices.

Sited within the Jardin des Plantes in Paris’s 5th arrondissement, the gallery sits among botanical gardens and other museum buildings of the national natural history complex, close to the Gare d’Austerlitz and the River Seine.

• Location within MNHN: Located inside the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle complex in the Jardin des Plantes, with direct access to other natural history displays on the site.
• Presentation style: Specimens are arranged to show evolutionary relationships and anatomical comparisons, making it a working teaching collection as well as a public gallery.

What to See#

• Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy wings: Two adjoining display sections housed within the same late 19th-century iron-and-glass building: one focuses on fossil collections and paleontological displays, the other on comparative anatomy with mounted skeletons and skull collections.
• Upper galleries and mezzanines: Mezzanine levels and galleries that allow close viewing of mounted skeletons and fossil cases, arranged taxonomically and by anatomical comparison.

Located in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris’s 5th arrondissement. Take Metro lines 5 or 7 to Place Monge, or RER C to Gare d’Austerlitz and walk 10-15 minutes. Several bus lines serve the area; cycling is popular in the Left Bank neighbourhood.

• Go early to catch the morning light on the mounted skeletons - the space fills with school groups by late morning.
• Don't skip the mezzanine: views from above expose the ordered arrangement of skulls and bones.
• Read the small labels; the curators include surprising anatomical comparisons that most visitors miss.