Paläontologisches Museum der Universität Zürich

Description

As part of the natural science collections of the University of Zurich, the Paleontological Museum Zurich has been part of the Natural History Museum of the University of Zurich since 2024 and had previously presented the publicly accessible portion of the Paleontological Institute and Museum of the University of Zurich.

From 1956 to 2024 the building shared its exhibition space with the Zoological Museum Zurich. Exhibits had been viewable to the public as a display collection since 1965; the museum officially opened in 1991.

The holdings include fossils whose records date back to the 17th century. Particularly significant is the collection of marine fish and marine reptiles from the Middle Triassic (approximately 245.9–228.7 million years ago). At the centre of the exhibition are the exceptionally well‑preserved finds from Mount San Giorgio in the canton of Tessin, which has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since July 2003. These holdings are complemented by fossils from Switzerland, the Alps and North America, which provide insights into more recent Earth history.

The principle of organization was systematics – stratigraphy – geography. In total the collection comprised around 100,000 invertebrates, 10,000 vertebrates and approximately 6,000 "Tessin fossils".