The Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen (ZSM) is a research institution that forms part of the Bavarian Natural History Collections. With more than 20 million zoological objects, it is one of the three biggest zoological research institutes in Germany. It houses what is probably the largest collection of butterflies in the world, with more than 7 million specimens.

The Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen has three main purposes:
Collection, maintenance and conservation of scientific material (i.e. the scientific
collections)
Scientific research based on the collections
Publication and public presentation of scientific results

In fundamental research, the main focuses are the description of new species (taxonomy), their phylogenetic analysis, their geographical distributions (faunistic; zoogeography) and their patterns of life (ecology). On a more practical level, the ZSM examines current zoological problems like the rapid spread of the American mink in Bavaria that was first introduced in 1998. The Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen is also involved in compiling catalogues and atlases of zoogeographical distributions, and Red Lists of endangered species (e.g. dragonflies).

The Zoologische Staatssammlung Muenchen publishes the scientific journal "Spixiana".