page_title: Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo / History
caption_attribution_description: Português: Vista parcial da fachada principal do Museu de Zoologia da USP, no Parque Independência, Ipiranga, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
context_page_description: The Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo is a public natural history museum located in the historic Ipiranga district of São Paulo, Brazil. The MZUSP is an educational and research institution that is part of the University of São Paulo. The museum began at the end of the 19th century as part of the Museu Paulista; in 1941, it moved into a dedicated building. In 1969 the museum became a part of the University of São Paulo, receiving its current name.
  The MZUSP has one of the largest natural-history collections in Latin America, with over 8.5 million preserved specimens of vertebrates and invertebrates. Each collection is curated independently, and organized according to specific needs. Other facilities in the museum include a library specializing in zoology and laboratories dedicated to research in chronobiology, electron microscopy, molecular biology, histology and CT scans. MZUSP also operates the Boracéia Biological Station in the forest near Salesópolis for field research.
context_section_description: The Museum of Zoology began during the 1890s as an aggregation of several collections previously belonging to the Museu Paulista. In 1890 the Museu Paulista's director, Francisco Mayrink, donated to the São Paulo state government a natural history collection compiled during the 1870s. This collection was subsequently organized by the São Paulo state's Geographical and Geological Commission. In 1895 the collections were moved into the Museu Paulista's new building in the neighborhood of Ipiranga in São Paulo. During the next 40 years, new research was undertaken based on the growing zoological, botanical, ethnographic and historical collections housed in the Museu Paulista. By the 1930s, the Museum of Zoology was not yet an independent institution; it was still the Zoology Section of the Museu Paulista.
  On 11 January 1939 the Secretariat of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce of São Paulo state established a Department of Zoology, replacing the Museu Paulista's Zoology Section. With the department's creation, a new building for the zoological collection was designed. Construction was completed in 1940–1941; the zoological collection was transferred to the new building, where it remains. In 1969 the museum became part of the University of São Paulo, and received its current name.
  The Zoology Museum has one of the largest zoological collections in Latin America and plays a role in developing an understanding of biodiversity, local and worldwide. The museum was the first Brazilian institution recognized as a trustee by the Genetic Heritage Management Board of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment.
caption: Main entrance of the 1941 building as of 2015
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