On the left bank of Paris in the beautiful Jardin des Plantes, just a hundred meters or so from the Gare d’Austerlitz train station, sits the Galerie d’Anatomie Comparée et Paléontologie, part of the larger institution Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHN). In one of the world’s most visited cities, this gem often goes unnoticed by tourists who have so many other incredible options in which to spend their time. For dinosaur enthusiasts, though, there are plenty of reasons to add a stop to this musée magnifique.
This proud museum has a long and prestigious history. It first opened in 1898, in time to share its remarkable collections to the world at the 1900 Paris Exposition. Some of those collections were started by none other than Georges Cuvier, often considered the founder of vertebrate paleontology and certainly one of the most influential scholars in the then-burgeoning 19th century scientific movement to understand the ancient world and its animals. One of the boundaries of the Jardin des Plantes is named after him (Rue Cuvier–Cuvier Street), and a number of fossils that he described and named can be found in the collection here.
Website: https://www.mnhn.fr/fr
HIGHLIGHTS
While the museum isn’t terribly large, there is an awful lot to see. There are two main galleries and a second gallery balcony that contains fossils on the wall and in cabinets. The ground floor gallery contains hundreds of fossil skeletons, primarily from the modern era, and includes bones from many animals that exist today. There are some beautiful ancient fossils on the ground floor, though, including a cast of Cynthiacetus, an early basilosaurid whale from the Eocene epoch. The first floor gallery contains most of the ancient fossils from the Mesozoic and before, and includes specimens from just about every period of geologic time.
My favorite fossil in the collection just might be the huge Sarcosuchus. The holotype for the species, this amazing specimen was discovered in northern Africa and is among the largest crocodile-like reptiles yet discovered. Dating to the early Cretaceous period, Sarcosuchus was capable of hunting thirsty dinosaurs, even if it’s long and narrow gharial-like snout suggests a diet that was heavy on fish.
While Sarcosuchus wasn’t a dinosaur, there are quite a few dinosaurs on display in Paris. The cast of Andrew Carnegie’s famous Diplodocus still stands in the main gallery, surrounded by several carnivores, including the North American Allosaurus and the South American Carnotaurus.
I was a little surprised to find few European dinosaurs. Many of the fossil mounts and casts feature well-known North American dinosaurs such as Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus. Admittedly, this was a little disappointing since I have seen quite a few of those mounts in North American museums.
Nevertheless, it’s still impressive to see a Carnotaurus mount. It’s skull is so interesting compared to many large carnivores. It’s short and stocky, with two prominent “horns’ sticking out of the top. Carnotaurus also has relatively tiny arms, very similar to the more famously small-armed Tyrannosaurus. As the two dinosaurs were not closely related, this suggests that this evolutionary trait was probably useful for large carnivores in different locations across millions of years.
At least one famous European dinosaur stood out: a beautiful display of Iguanodon. One of the earliest dinosaurs to be named, Iguanodon has long been the most well-known example of the “duck-billed” dinosaurs (as they were called for many decades). Along with Megalosaurus and Hylaeosaurus, Iguanodon was one of the three original animals used to define what became known as “Dinosauria.” The display in Paris is a large and beautiful specimen showing off his characteristic thumb-spike.
One of the more rare fossil casts at MNHN is a dinosaur called Unenlagia, a fairly large South American dromaeosaur that may be an evolutionary intermediate between certain dromaeosauridae dinosaurs and avialae, or birds. It is the first display of this dinosaur I have seen, and it is displayed in a rather interesting pose, leaning over it’s display stand. It is clever, as my younger son was able to look right into it’s skull, and this display was very popular with the small children we saw at the museum that day.
Many of the real treasures on display at the museum can be found along the sides of the main floors. Cabinets and shelves can be found throughout and this is where some of the more interesting and unique specimens are displayed. I knew the holotype specimen of the large ancient dragonfly Meganeura was housed in Paris. It took awhile, but I eventually found it on display in one of the cabinets. It was in these cabinets that I found quite a few fossils that I have never seen displayed anywhere else. One of my favorites was Metriorhynchus, an ancient crocodyliform that lived in what is now France during the Jurassic period. Another beauty from the cabinets was a cast of known material from Ichthyovenator, a large spinosaurid dinosaur discovered in Laos.
IF I DON’T LIKE DINOSAURS, WILL I ENJOY MY VISIT?
The museum display is very different that most North American dinosaur displays, and as such might be something of a curiosity to visitors regardless of their interest in dinosaurs. It is an old-school setting where the fossils are displayed in no apparent chronological order, and just packed into the space rather than displayed in scenes or with creative backgrounds, etc. Still, if you don’t like dinosaurs, it might be very difficult to enjoy your time here with so many famous tourist sites beckoning nearby. In 10-15 minutes, you could walk from the museum to the Panthéon, the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Sainte-Chapelle, the Luxembourg Gardens, and countless other attractions in this incredible city. If I didn’t care for prehistoric fossils, I would surely spend my time at one of those and meet my dinosaur-loving friends at a café later!
WHAT COULD BE BETTER?
I was hoping to see more European dinosaurs, and particularly French dinosaurs such as Pyroraptor, who made an appearance in the 2022 Jurassic World: Dominion film. The museum houses the holotype specimen, but there was nothing about it on display. In fact, the museum boasts a significant number of holotypes, but unfortunately there isn’t a lot of attention drawn to these important fossils. My dream job would be to spend a couple of years renovating the displays at MNHN, with a particular focus on displaying the many important French specimens that are held in the collection. While the museum is a wonderful throwback to a time when many natural history museums displayed their collections similarly, it is probably well past time to update the displays.
DID MY CHILDREN ENJOY THEIR VISIT?
My children both enjoyed the museum, particularly because it was so different from the dozens of dinosaur museum displays they have seen elsewhere. While the fossils displayed at MNHN are numerous, they are really packed in tight in order to maximize the number of displays while limiting any contextualization or creativity that might come from displaying them in more visually appealing scenes. Even without that, there is no denying the power of a beautiful fossil like Sarcosuchus, and that was one of the specimens that my sons really enjoyed. They also enjoyed the faux cave painting displayed at one end of the gallery. France is known for some of the oldest and most beautiful cave paintings by our human (and possibly Neanderthal) ancestors, and it was great to see a recreation of that in the gallery.
HOW MUCH TIME SHOULD I PLAN TO SPEND THERE?
Our family spent a little over an hour in the Galerie d’Anatomie Comparée et Paléontologie. We saw all the fossils on display and still had plenty of time to spend admiring our favorites. I read French a lot better than I speak it, but I’m by no means a quick reader. Almost all of the writing in the museum is in French. Still, I had time to read many of the placards next to individual fossils. If your time in Paris is limited, you don’t want to spend all day at the museum when there are so many wonderful things to see all over the city. I think most families are able to get in and out in 30 to 45 minutes and still feel like they saw everything. It would be easy to pair a trip here with other great tourist sites: the Panthéon is about a ten-minute walk. If you are on your way to the Panthéon, I recommend a quick stop at the nearby Arènes de Lutèce, a 1st-century Roman amphitheatre that is somewhat hidden from view but is easily accessible to the public. Only a few blocks from the museum, this ancient site is very interesting and one that most Paris tourists never see.
OVERALL:
The Galerie d’Anatomie Comparée et Paléontologie is one of several museum buildings in the larger institution Museum national d’Histoire naturelle. Nearby one can find the “Grand Gallery of Evolution,” and the zoological garden. While the paleontological museum is easy to get to and right in the heart of the left bank, it is understandably far down the list of popular tourist sites in Paris. When we went, there was just a small crowd of maybe twenty people, mostly French. We really enjoyed our short time visiting the museum, there is a lot to see and it actually felt like a reprieve from the massive crowds at some of the other incredible museums in the city. Hopefully one day the museum will update its displays and highlight more of the fossils from France.
Rating Aspects of the Museum’s Fossil Displays:
Number of Fossils/Dinosaurs on Display: (8.0 out of 10)
Fossil Displays/Creativity/Visual Layout/Overall Scene: (5.5 out of 10)
Unique/New/Famous/Important Fossils on Display: (8.0 out of 10)
Educational Materials/Display Information/Signage: (7.5 out of 10)
Activities/Play Areas for Children: (5.0 out of 10)
Allosaurus Roar 