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Photo d'une structure lumineuse représentant un stégosaure
Photo d'une structure lumineuse représentant un stégosaure
Exhibition-Event

Illuminated Evolution

This exhibition has ended

From 29th of November 2021 to 30th of January 2022

Cover 600 million years in a single evening with this new immersive night walk devoted to the evolution of life.

Opening times

The event has ended

Open from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Open daily, except on 24th and 31st of December 2021

Last admission:
9.30 p.m. from Monday to Thursday
10 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and during holidays

Target public

All audiences

Getting here

Jardin des Plantes (Garden of Plants)

Access on the Seine river side:
2 place Valhubert - 75005 Paris

Prices

From €12 to €15

Tickets are sold exclusively online

The Exhibition

This year, along the paths of the Jardin des Plantes and the Ménagerie, we will take you on a spectacular voyage through time.

Over a hundred new luminous structures, the fruit of the research and reconstruction work of the Muséum’s palaeontologists, represent the astonishing species that have inhabited the Earth over the last 600 million years. You will find there the “celebrities” of the past, such as dinosaurs, but also lesser-known species that will astound you with their astonishing forms and unique living habits.

All the species presented here existed in the past, but are now extinct.

Illuminated Evolution combines art, science and poetry.

Admire biodiversity from the past while letting the magic of the lights carry you away: an amazing experience!

A journey through geological times

The origins of life (3,700 to 490 million years ago)

The voyage starts from Place Valhubert with an immersion in Precambrian and Cambrian times. Between the formation of the Earth and the first evidence of life, there was a gap of nearly a billion years! And over the next 3 billion years, the life forms were very discreet and only to be found in the sea.

Primary era (490 to 250 million years ago)

The tour continues into the Palaeozoic era. Organisms started to adapt to the terrestrial environment: at first small plants, then animals, particularly insects and vertebrates.

Secondary era (250 to 66 million years ago)

The Mesozoic era heralded a boom in biodiversity, notably dinosaurs. These strange and sometimes gigantic “terrible lizards” reigned supreme during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Tertiary era (from 66 million years ago to the present time)

The walk ends in the Cenozoic era. Intensive volcanism and the impact of a giant meteorite greatly upset the biodiversity. Some species became extinct, like the non-avian dinosaurs and the ammonites. The mammals, which were very small until this point, became the most dominant of the terrestrial vertebrates and increasingly diversified.

 

An exhibition coproduced by the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle and China Light Festival.

Logo China Light Festival

Plan your visit

Customer service

  • illumination [@] mnhn.fr
  • +33 1 40 79 56 00 (10 a.m. - 6 p.m.)

Gourmet break

Several chalets, located in the heart of the night walk, offers winter specialties : hot wine, raclette, bretzels, french fries, sweet crepes and waffles…

Shop

Gift ideas for young and adults are to be discovered at the end of the tour.

illumination Offer

Visit a Museum site at a discounted rate with your full rate Illuminated Evolution ticket. Offer valid 3 months after your visit at the following sites: Grande Galerie de l’Évolution [Gallery of Evolution] and the exhibition The Sensory Odyssey ; Galerie de Paléontologie et d’Anatomie comparée [Comparative Anatomy and Paleontology Gallery]; La Ménagerie, le zoo du Jardin des Plantes [Ménagerie, the zoo of the Jardin des Plantes]; Grandes Serres [Greenhouses]; Parc zoologique de Paris [Zoological Park of Paris]; Musée de l’Homme [Museum of Mankind] and the exhibition The Limits of Humanity.

Patron and partners

With the support of

Logo Kering

Media partners

Logo France tv
Logo Le Parisien
Logo France Inter