The Durfort Mammoth at the Paris Natural History Museum, restored!

In the heart of the Galerie de Paléontologie et d'Anatomie Comparée at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris, the Durfort mammoth had disappeared to be given a new lease of life. The only French specimen mounted and exhibited since 1898, it isone of the largest in the world. Missing for thousands of years, the Durfort mammoth in the Natural History Museum could well disappear too, if it is not quickly restored.

The Durfort Mammoth is finally back at the Museum , to the delight of young and old alike. After meticulous restoration, this prehistoric giant, discovered in 1869, is waiting to enchant you from June 28, 2023.

Dating from 700,000 to 1.2 million years ago, the Durfort Mammoth is a male specimen found at Durfort-et-Saint-Martin-de-Sossenac, in the Gard region of France. The imposing skeleton, measuring four meters in height and almost seven meters in length, required urgent restoration. ChatGPT reveals the richness of this icon and its importance for science.

This southern mammoth, Mammuthus meridionalis, is one of the largest mammoth fossils ever assembled. After a study in 2020, the Muséum, with the museum services company Aïnu, has embarked on a vast restoration project from June 2022 to June 2023, financed by an appeal for donations.

It's also a chance for you to (re)discover the Galerie de Paléontologie et d'Anatomie Comparée, where the mammoth is on display. On the program:

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• 4,300 present-day vertebrate specimens on the first floor.
• Over 2,050 vertebrate fossils upstairs, including 220 complete skeletons.
• The Durfort Mammoth next to a Siberian woolly mammoth.
• 230 showcases on the balcony displaying invertebrates and fossil plants.
  

Restoration was a meticulous job carried out by a variety of experts, including researchers, imaging engineers, Museum staff and restorers. Each bone was carefully cleaned, consolidated and fractures reattached. In addition, the original 19th-century base was renovated.

Importantly, the mammoth has also been adjusted to a more anatomically accurate position, giving the impression that it is walking at amble, similar to today's elephants.

Which makes this restoration all the more impressive:

• State-of-the-art bone-strengthening techniques.
• The skeleton has been fully digitized and modeled in 3D, making a dematerialized version available to scientists and the public worldwide.

So why not pay a visit to the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle to (re)discover this unique specimen?