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Milan (northern Italy) is the second largest city in Italy and my hometown. I’ve spent a good deal of my childhood and formative years in the natural history museum, getting to know it very well. I also have had the chance of volunteering for almost two years in the paleontology collections. The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale was founded in 1838. During WWII air raids, the authorities refused to evacuate the scientific collections to a safer area, despite the very high risks. In 1943, fire bombs hit the museum and its entire collection (save for a very limited number of specimens) was forever lost. This is one of the worst loss in the history of Italian science. After WWII the museum acquired new collections, by exchange, purchase or through scientific expeditions. Nowadays, it possibly ranks as first in terms of number of specimens, among the Italian museums. There are five sections open to the public: introduction to paleontology, the animal tree of life and evolution, the geologic time scale, the dinosaurs hall and the ‘treasures hall’. Contrary to other permanent exhibitions (such as the mineralogical and paleoanthropological one), the paleontology section has not been renovated in a long time (save for a handful of displays) and that is one of the major issues: almost every explanatory panel is only in Italian and sometimes not up to date. Despite all of this, the exhibits are highly enjoyable. Starting from the 1970s the museum staff has been involved in field work campaigns in Italy and abroad. Some of the most relevant finds are now exhibited to the public. These include, just to name a few, fossils from the Triassic of Besano (Italy) and Madagascar, from the Jurassic of Osteno (Italy), from the Cretaceous of Lebanon and, last but not least, dinosaurs. Relevant fossils, purchased in the last few years, are displayed in the ‘treasures hall’. Let’s dive into some photos! The next 9 pictures depict specimens from the Middle Triassic of Besano. Note that a few of them are casts, but the originals are kept in the museum’s collections. Neusticosaurus edwardsii, a nothosaur reptile. This is an historical specimen, being the first Besano reptile described in a scientific journal (1854), as well as one of the very few fossils that survived the WWII air raids. Serpianosaurus mirigiolensis, a carnivorous semiacquatic nothosaur Mixosaurus cornalianus, the most abundant ichthyosaur from Besano Saurichthys curionii, one of the top predator fish from in the Triassic seas Macrocnemus bassanii, one the few terrestrial reptiles known from Besano Askeptosaurus italicus, a thalattosaurian sea reptile Besanosaurus leptorhynchus (holotype), one of the most impressive fossils ever found in Italy. An ichthyosaur, it measures 5 m (16.5 ft) in length. It was a pregnant female and 4 embryos have fossilized as well. Preparation took more than 15000 hours. This is a cast, the original being too heavy and delicate to be exhibited. First photo: the complete specimen. Second photo: close up of the skull region. Third photo (taken from Wikimedia commons): close up of the rib cage. Notice the circular structures, they are the vertebrae of the embryos Next are three dinosaur specimens. Unfortunately, all three are casts, but the originals of two of them are kept in the museum. Saltriovenator zanellai, the latest of the Italian dinosaurs to be described (2018), it originates from the lower Jurassic of Lombardy. Few bones have been preserved and they were freed from the rock with acid baths. The species is the oldest ceratosaurian known. In front of the museum there is a full scale reconstruction of the animal. (The first photo is taken from Wikimedia Commons) Scipionyx samniticus, one of the greatest paleontological discoveries ever made. This juvenile dinosaur (24 cm or 9.5 in long), recovered in the Early Cretaceous of Pietraroja (southern Italy) preserves much of the soft body parts (including muscles, cuticles, gut). This is a cast, the original is kept near to place of discovery and is seldom shown to the public Rostrum of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, from the Cretaceous of Morocco. It was bought from a fossil dealer. Spinosaurus’ skull elements are exceedingly rare (except for teeth). (Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons) Now, a fish exhibited in the 'introduction to paleontology' exhibition: Paranguilla tigrina, an eel from the Eocene of Bolca, which preserves the original pigmentation pattern Next, a display of concretions from the Triassic of Madagascar. You can see fish specimens (top left and lower right corner and a close up in the second photo), a shrimp (centre), two ammonites (top right corner) and a thylacocephan (lower left corner) These are sponges from the Cretaceous of France, England and Germany And now it is time for the ‘treasures hall’! A large slab preserving 8 complete trilobites from the Cambrian of Morocco An exceptionally preserved stingray from the Eocene of Bolca, northern Italy Pontosaurus kornhuberi, a pythonomorph reptile from the Late Cretaceous of Lebanon Bovid skulls from the Pleistocene of the Po river, northern Italy And, cherry on top, my absolute favourite fossil in the exhibition: a slab preserving countless sea stars (Astropecten irregularis), from the Early Pleistocene of northern Italy I wish I could show you even more photos, but many fossils (for instance those originating from the Jurassic of Osteno) are too small to show any detail in a photograph! In conclusion, the Natural History Museum of Milan, despite an often out dated exhibition layout, should be an unmissable stop for any paleontology enthusiast! Thank you for the attention, Italo40

In June 2016, during a trip to Italy, I went for a morning to the Natural History Museum of Milan to check out the fossils they had. I was slightly disappointed when I learned that the Scipionyx samniticus holotype specimen was no longer housed over there, but the museum did on the other hand have some rather neat fossils. Here they are 2 labyrinthodont skulls from the Permian of Madagascar (Sakamena Formation?), preserved as part and counterpart: 1) Parotosuchus madagascariensis 2) Indeterminate capitosaurid 3) Resin casts of the skulls Pterosaur phalange from the Triassic of Italy Dermal "armour" of a Bothriolepis canadensis from the Upper Devonian of Canada Edestus heinrichi (eugeneodontid chondrichthyan similar to Helicoprion) tooth from the Carboniferous of the USA (they didn't give more specific location details) Astreptoscolex anasillosus (polychaete worm) from the Carboniferous of Mazon Creek, USA Well preserved skull of Askeptosaurus italicus from the Triassic Besano Formation (Besano, Italy) Hope you liked it! Don't worry guys, I'll post more from this museum in the next few days.

Okay guys, I’ve managed to get some cheap air tickets (£20) to Milan from the UK. Airbnb was good to me too at £25 a night. Anyone know of any sites, museums or shops in the area?