Muséum de Toulouse

The Muséum de Toulouse, sometimes known as MHNT or Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de la ville de Toulouse, is a museum of natural history in Toulouse, France. It is located in the Busca-Montplaisir, and houses a collection of more than 2.5 million items.

The museum was founded in 1796 by the naturalist Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse. It was at that time housed in the old buildings of the monastery of the carmelite friars. It was opened to the public in 1865 in its present location and under the directorship of Édouard Filhol. Toulouse museum was the first museum in the world to open a gallery of prehistory, thanks to the collaboration of Émile Cartailhac, Jean-Baptiste Noulet, and Eugène Trutat. Today the museum is housed in a 2007 building designed by the architect Jean-Paul Viguier.

The permanent exhibition has five linked themes:

Nature of the solar system and its formation. Nature of the Earth – plate tectonics, seismic and volcanic activity and erosion, petrology and mineralogy.

The nature of life – biodiversity, classification, and organization.

Earth history from 3.8 billion years ago. Introduces time, palaeontology and the evolution of life

The main functions of living beings—feeding, respiration, locomotion, reproduction, protection and communication.

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