Muséum de Toulouse


The Muséum de Toulouse 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 of exhibition space. Its Index Herbariorum code is TLM.

History

The museum was founded in 1796 by the naturalist Philippe-Isidore Picot de Lapeyrouse, with his collections being able to be housed in the former Carmelite monastery in Toulouse.
In 1808, the emperor Napoleon formally gifted all the Carmelite buildings and land to the city of Toulouse, and in 1865
the museum was opened to the public 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 collection of the malacologist Alfred de Candie de Saint-Simon and the collaboration of Émile Cartailhac, Jean-Baptiste Noulet, and Eugène Trutat.
In 1887 the botanical gardens of the University of Toulouse became part of the museum.
In 2008, the museum reopened in its present form with the renovations and extensions of the museum, designed by the architectural firm of Jean-Paul Viguier, having been completed.

Permanent exhibitions

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.
The impact of human activity—demographic pressure on ecosystems and natural resources

Collections

This section presents examples to illustrate the content of each different collection of the Museum de Toulouse.

Prehistory

The prehistoric collection includes mostly artefacts excavated in France. They also contain comparative material from other parts of Europe and other continents. Notable collectors include Édouard Harlé, Antoine Meillet, Alexis Damour, Félix Regnault, Louis Péringuey, Émile Cartailhac, Daniel Bugnicourt, Edward John Dunn, Henri Breuil, and Louis Lartet, as well as the curators Jean-Baptiste Noulet, Eugène Trutat, and Édouard Filhol.

Botany

[Coleoptera]

Lepidoptera

Orthoptera

Mineralogy

Ornithology

Paleontology

The specimens of the collection of paleontology amount to tens of thousands. They date from the Paleoarchean to the Eocene.

Invertebrates

The invertebrates room was named Saint-Simon in honor to the collection of the malacologist Alfred de Candie de Saint-Simon, presented during the museum opening exhibit in 1865 under the directorship of Édouard Filhol.

Vertebrates

Henri Gaussen Botanical Garden

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" and a "shade house" which recreates the conditions required by shade plants.