Our collection groups
Rocks and minerals, stuffed animals and naturalised plants, fossils and living creatures, prehistoric, anthropological and ethnological objects make up the naturalist collections. A total of 68 million specimens are stored and assembled in collections, which are themselves gathered into groups. Accompanied by document, archive and art collections, these collections represent around 100 years’ worth of natural history knowledge.
Attention
Following a serious cyberattack on our servers, some of our websites are currently unavailable for an indefinite period. Our teams are working flat out to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Our collection databases remain available for consultation.
Natural History Collections
- The Museum’s collections portal is once again accessible. Last updated: 01/04/2026
Documentary Collections
- Catalogue of archives, manuscripts, iconographic documents, works of art and Calames collection items
- Printed Works Catalogue
For any requests regarding access to the MNHN’s collections (loans, sampling, images, visits), please refer to the procedure outlined on the page for the collection relevant to your request.
Biological anthropology collections
The MNHN’s biological anthropology collections are among the world’s most diverse and as such they constitute a unique resource...
Biological resources of living and cryopreserved cells collections
The biological resources of living and cryopreserved cells (RBCell) of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle store...
Botany collections
The botany collections include inert collections (over 2,000,000 herbarium sections of cryptogams - fungi and lichens, algae...
Cultural anthropology collections
The MNHN’s cultural anthropology collections focus on the interrelationship between human societies and their environment with a...
Documentary, archival and artistic collections
The Muséum’s libraries’ collections document every stage in the natural history research cycle, from the first field notes and...
Mineralogy and geology collections
The mineralogy and geology collections of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle include over 4,000 meteorites, nearly 24,000...
Marine invertebrates
The term "marine invertebrates" is used to describe groups as diverse as crustaceans, molluscs, worms, cnidarians (corals...
Palaeontology collections
The palaeontology collections of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle contains between 5 and 6 million specimens and...
Prehistory collections
The Prehistory collections focuses on archaeological remains, of mineral, animal or vegetable matter, which illustrate the...
Terrestrial arthropods collections
The terrestrial arthropod collection group is made up of insects, arachnids and myriapods. The Onychophora collection is connected...
Vertebrate collections
The vertebrate collections comprise around 1.4 million specimens.