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All France Paris The Room of Endangered and Extinct Species

The Room of Endangered and Extinct Species

A haunting collection of the vanished and disappearing natural world.

Paris, France

Added By
Allison Meier
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Schomburgk’s Deer   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Black Emu skeleton   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Tasmanian Tiger   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Elephant Bird egg   gabri3l / Atlas Obscura User
Great Auk   gabri3l / Atlas Obscura User
St Lucian Giant Rice-rat   gabri3l / Atlas Obscura User
Quagga   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Clock made for Marie-Antoinette   Allison / Atlas Obscura User
Pink-headed Duck   gabri3l / Atlas Obscura User
Huia   gabri3l / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Holding 257 rare specimens, La Salle des Espèces Menacées et des Espèces Disparues (The Room of Endangered and Extinct Species) is a glimpse into natural worlds that human progress has pushed to endangerment or extinction.

The wood-lined room is one of the original galleries of the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution. It is kept cold and dark, with most light coming from the glass and wood display cases. The specimens, in various states of completion from whole taxidermy examples to single pressed branches, represent animals and plants that have been completely extinguished, and others that are fading from existence.

There are disappearing animals like the Aye-aye, a large nocturnal lemur from Madagascar; the critically endangered Sumatran Tiger; and a preserved Coelacanth, the ancient fish long believed to be extinct that resurfaced in South Africa in 1938, later to be found in the Comoros and Indonesia. A Barbary lion and Cape lion, both extinct in the wild, snarl and stare from their shared glass case in the center of the room.

Many of the taxidermy animals, skeletons, and other specimens are the only examples of extinct creatures. The gallery contains the sole complete black emu skeleton and only complete mounted Schomburgk's Deer, chased for its ornate antlers in Thailand. There is the extinct quagga, a zebra with stripes only on its head; a Rodrigues Giant Tortoise; a dried Cry Violet; a pinned Xerces Blue butterfly; a Tasmanian Tiger; one of two known specimens of the Santa Lucian Giant Rice Rat; a mounted Bluebuck skin; one of only seven preserved Hawaii ʻOo, a bird hunted for its striking yellow feathers; one of three Seychelles giant tortoises; and one of ten known specimens of the Martinique Muskrat, a species that met its final end when it chose the Mount Pelée volcano as its last refuge, perishing in the 1902 eruption.

Alongside these relics of natural history is a gold clock made for Marie-Antoinette by Robert Robin, Louis XVI’s clockmaker. It was confiscated during the French Revolution and still chimes through the stillness of the gallery.

In addition to the Room of Endangered and Extinct Species, the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution extends to 3,000 specimens in its central atrium alone, and 7,000 in the adjoining rooms. It is one of three museums at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle complex in the Jardin des Plantes.

Related Tags

Museums And Collections Natural History Long Now Locations Extinct Animals Taxidermy

Know Before You Go

On the third floor.

Metro, RER : M5 : Austerlitz - M7 : Censier Daubenton - M 10 : Jussieu ou Austerlitz - RER C

Community Contributors

Added By

Allison

Edited By

Annetta Black, hrnick, NoComprendo, gabri3l

  • Annetta Black
  • hrnick
  • NoComprendo
  • gabri3l

Published

April 8, 2010

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Sources
  • “La salle des espèces disparues, la valorization des collections,” by Florence Raulin-Cerceau
  • Smithsonian Institution
The Room of Endangered and Extinct Species
36 Rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire
Paris, 75005
France
48.842195, 2.35631
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Nearby Places

Grande Galerie de l'Évolution

Paris, France

miles away

Lion of The Botanical Gardens

Paris, France

miles away

Cabinet of Joseph Bonnier de La Mosson

Paris, France

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Paris

Paris

France

Places 204
Stories 41

Nearby Places

Grande Galerie de l'Évolution

Paris, France

miles away

Lion of The Botanical Gardens

Paris, France

miles away

Cabinet of Joseph Bonnier de La Mosson

Paris, France

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Paris

Paris

France

Places 204
Stories 41

Related Stories and Lists

All That Remains: A Haunting Gallery of Extinct Animals in Paris

notes from the field

By Allison Meier

New in the Atlas: lucky airplanes, extinct tigers, Victorian sea forts - Editor's Picks for April

extinct animals

By Annetta Black

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