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Entry hall of the Muséum de ToulouseMultiple view of bone Azilianharpoon head, from about 10,000 years ago
The Muséum de Toulouse (Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de la ville de Toulouse, MHNT) is a museum of natural history in Toulouse, France. It is in the Busca-Montplaisir, houses a collection of more than 2.5 million items, and has some 3,000 square metres (32,000 sq ft) of exhibition space.[1] Its Index Herbariorum code is TLM.[2]
The museum was founded in 1796 by the naturalist Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse, with his collections being able to be housed (after the revolution) in the former Carmelite monastery in Toulouse.[3]
In 1808, the emperor Napoleon formally gifted all the Carmelite buildings and land to the city of Toulouse,[3] and in 1865,
the museum was opened to the public in its present location and under the directorship of Édouard Filhol.[3] Toulouse museum was the first museum in the world to open a gallery of prehistory thanks to the collection of the malacologist Alfred de Candie de Saint-Simon[4] (1731–1851), and the collaboration of Émile Cartailhac, Jean-Baptiste Noulet, and Eugène Trutat.[5]
In 1887 (on the occasion of a world exposition in Toulouse), the botanical gardens of the University of Toulouse became part of the museum.[3]
In 2008, the museum reopened in its present form (as of May 2018) with the renovations and extensions of the museum,[6] designed by the architectural firm of Jean-Paul Viguier,[3][7] having been completed.
The bird collection of MHNT contains more than 30,000 specimens, of which 20,000 are eggs. About 8,500 bird mounts and 1,500 scientific bird skins are included. Other bird items are around 2,000 skeletons and skulls and 5,300 eggs. The collection focuses on Europe (especially France), but the collection also has exotic species . Most are documented on card or computer systems.
The bird mount collection of Victor Besaucèle, with 5,000 specimens, is one of the most important historic collections in Europe.
Other collectors represented are R. Bourret, G. Cossaune, M. Gourdon, Hammonville, A. Lacroix, and Reboussin.
Snowy owl: The oldest mount in the museum, collected by Mr Dode in 1807
The egg collection of Jacques Perrin de Brichambaut (1920–2007) was acquired in 2010. It contains his personal collections, supplemented by those of other ornithologists, notably Georges Guichard, Henri Heim de Balsac, and Rene de Naurois. It includes all the Palearctic species (Europe, North Africa, and Asia), about 1,000 species and nearly 15,000 eggs, and is one of the most complete and best-documented palearctic egg collections in Europe.
Henri Gaussen was a Toulouse-based phytogeographer and botanist. The botanic garden which honours his name is attached to the museum and is part of the Earth and Life Science Research and Training Paul Sabatier University. A second botanical area, The Museum Gardens, extends over 3 hectares. It is notable for "potagers du monde" (vegetable gardens of the world) and a "shade house" which recreates the conditions required by shade plants.
François Bon, Sébastien Dubois, Marie-Dominique Labails, 2010. Le Muséum de Toulouse et l'invention de la préhistoire Toulouse Editions Muséum de Toulouse ISBN978-2-906702-18-9
(in French)
