Grande Galerie de l'Evolution I Compulsory time slot reservation

Details

They do not speak but they say everything about life. Those are the 7000 specimens , as authentic as it can get, of the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution. A unique place renovated in 1994, where modernity meets History and science, to tell the great tale of biodiversity.

You’re welcome on the ground floor by two gigantic skeletons of aquatic mammals : the Southern Whale and the Blue Whale. A few meters away there is “Wheke”, the giant squid, who spreads its tentacles. All around you are floating shoals of tunas and mackerels. You just entered a world of silence. See how life grows in the darkness of the abyss, how coral reefs are built, and how species of the littoral live at the same rhythm as the light and tides.

Terrestrial species also evolve and adapt. On the first floor the elephant is leading the caravan of animals from the african savanna. The huge mammals and their predators are marching alongside. Buffalos, hartebeest, wildebeests, giraffes and zebras, hyenas, lions and cheetahs : Guess who eat who.

After the savanna, head for South America. You might recognize the tenants of the large metallic sculpture reproducing the tropical forest : tapirs, anteaters, anacondas, jaguars, sloths, blue macaws and other margay cats. Nearby, everything seems to distinguish the saharan wildlife from the Arctic and Antarctica, except for the extreme living conditions.

Come at the upper balconies to learn more about species diversity. How so ? By understanding the history of living organisms and the adventures of the naturalists who decrypted it. A perfect time to lean on the unveiled secrets of anatomy, fossils and molecules. Learn more about Lamarck, Darwin and Mendal by getting the essential keys to understand life : the theory of evolution, genetic laws, kinships between species or how the species are classified.

What about mankind ?

Its grasp on nature is driven by technological evolutions changing the way of eating and moving : picking, hunting, fishing, domestication of species… Those changes are no longer measured at a geological scale but in decades.The second floor of the Grande Galerie de L’Evolution makes you think about the preservation of nature and the challenges that we are all facing. Follow on with the most moving room of the Galerie where threatened and extinct species are exhibited. The dodo of Mauritius is gone, but the Sumatra Tiger can still be saved...

The Grande Galerie also went through numerous changes. Today the magic of this place created by Jules André in 1889 remains intact : a huge hall surrounded by three balconies is lightened by a 1000m² canopy. Cast iron and glass mixed with woodworks are combined with new materials in order to valorize the entirely restored collections.

For its re-opening in 1994, the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution went through a lot of transformations. Renovated by the architects and scenographers Borja Huidobro, Paul Chemetov and René Allio, the space is magnificent and full of emotion. And with an entirely re though museological approach, the collections are now carrying a vivid message. Diversity is the result of a long evolution of living organisms in multiple environments, and it is our duty to preserve it. Sure enough you will be leaving the museum with that though. Make sure to spread it outside !

Included

• E-Ticket for the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution

Meeting Point

36, rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 75005 Paris.

By batobus : Jardin des Plantes.

By bus : lines 24, 57, 61, 63, 67, 89, 91.

By metro : line 5 Gare d’Austerlitz, line 7 Censier Daubenton, line 10 Jussieu or Gare d’Austerlitz.

RER C : Gare d’Austerlitz.

Good to know

• Admission is free for visitors under 26 years old.

• Compulsory time slot reservation.

• Admission is free for visitors with disabilities and the person accompanying them upon presentation of a valid proof delivered by the Maisons Départementales des Personnes Handicapées (MDPH).

• Please contact us for chosing a time you would like to go, subject to avaibility.