Paris, France, 2019

The Galerie d' Anatomie Comparée in Paris is part of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle and is housed in a magnificent building, 80 meters long, inaugurated in 1898. The result is a building that meets the scientific, educational and museographic requirements from Albert Gaudry, professor of paleontology, Georges Pouchet, professor of comparative anatomy, and Ferdinand Dutert, talented architect, used to worked together. Cut stones and bricks decorate the metal framework, bay windows and stained-glass windows provide the necessary light, wooden floors and landings embellish the whole, sculptures and high reliefs by artists such as Fremiet or Barrias decorate the exterior of the building. In this Art Nouveau ambience, the visitor is guided through the fascinating spectacle of the worlds of ‘yesterday’s’ and ‘today.’ As soon as you cross the threshold of the gallery, the collection unfolds a herd of large land and water vertebrates. Remarkable species such as a whale nearly 20 meters long can be seen here, as well as Steller's rhytine (sea cow), extinct since 1768, or the marsupial wolf, extinct since 1936. Also, the elephant of Louis XIV and the rhinoceros of Louis XV are on display.