Museum of Natural History, Lima, Natural history museum in Jesús María, Lima, Peru
The Museum of Natural History (MHN-UNMSM) occupies a yellow building at Avenida Arenales 1256 in Jesús María, Lima. Its arched entrance is inscribed "MUSEO DE HISTORIA NATURAL" in gold letters, flanked by pilasters and topped by two dark archer statues on a brown ledge. Inside are exhibition halls on zoology, botany, ecology and geosciences, plus an auditorium and a specialized library.
The Faculty of Sciences of San Marcos University founded the museum on 28 February 1918, naming Carlos Rospigliosi its director and founder. Its first expedition that April gathered fauna, flora and minerals in Junín and Huánuco; a 1920 expedition included polar explorer Otto Nordenskiöld. In 1920 the Raimondi collections were transferred to the museum, which moved in 1934 from the Casona de San Marcos to Avenida Arenales 1256 in Jesús María.
The collections carry Peruvian names and display animals and plants from the country's varied climate zones, from the Amazon to the coast. Visitors can see species that live in the Andes or the rainforest and are still studied today.
The museum is at Avenida Arenales 1256 in the Jesús María district, not Lince. The entrance is the arched doorway under gold letters reading "MUSEO DE HISTORIA NATURAL", flanked by two dark archer statues on the ledge; a metal handrail enters at the lower left. Inside are exhibition halls, an auditorium and a specialized library.
The building holds a large herbarium where dried plants are kept for identification and serve researchers from across South America. Scientists there focus especially on bats and amphibians from Peruvian habitats.
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