diff --git a/client/src/components/History/Content/Collection/CollectionDescription.test.js b/client/src/components/History/Content/Collection/CollectionDescription.test.js
index 50c9f7729b8..9a485b7ea1e 100644
--- a/client/src/components/History/Content/Collection/CollectionDescription.test.js
+++ b/client/src/components/History/Content/Collection/CollectionDescription.test.js
@@ -11,23 +11,50 @@ describe("CollectionDescription", () => {
         wrapper = mount(CollectionDescription, {
             propsData: {
                 collectionType: "list",
-                elementCount: 10,
             },
             localVue,
         });
     });
 
-    it("check basics", async () => {
-        const details = wrapper.findAll("span");
-        expect(details.at(0).text()).toBe("a list");
-        expect(details.at(1).text()).toBe("with 10 items");
-        await wrapper.setProps({ elementCount: 1 });
-        expect(details.at(1).text()).toBe("with 1 item");
-        await wrapper.setProps({ collectionType: "paired" });
-        expect(details.at(0).text()).toBe("a dataset pair");
+    it("should display expected heterogeneous descriptions", async () => {
+        const HETEROGENEOUS_DATATYPES = ["txt", "csv", "tabular"];
+        await wrapper.setProps({ elementCount: 1, elementsDatatypes: HETEROGENEOUS_DATATYPES });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe("a list with 1 dataset");
+
+        await wrapper.setProps({ elementCount: 2, collectionType: "paired" });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe("a pair with 2 datasets");
+
+        await wrapper.setProps({ elementCount: 10, collectionType: "list" });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe("a list with 10 datasets");
+
         await wrapper.setProps({ collectionType: "list:paired" });
-        expect(details.at(0).text()).toBe("a list of pairs");
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe("a list with 10 pairs");
+
+        await wrapper.setProps({ collectionType: "list:list" });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe("a list with 10 lists");
+
         await wrapper.setProps({ collectionType: "other" });
-        expect(details.at(0).text()).toBe("a nested list");
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe("a nested list with 10 dataset collections");
+    });
+
+    it("should display expected homogeneous descriptions", async () => {
+        const EXPECTED_HOMOGENEOUS_DATATYPE = "tabular";
+        await wrapper.setProps({ elementCount: 1, elementsDatatypes: [EXPECTED_HOMOGENEOUS_DATATYPE] });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe(`a list with 1 ${EXPECTED_HOMOGENEOUS_DATATYPE} dataset`);
+
+        await wrapper.setProps({ elementCount: 2, collectionType: "paired" });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe(`a pair with 2 ${EXPECTED_HOMOGENEOUS_DATATYPE} datasets`);
+
+        await wrapper.setProps({ elementCount: 10, collectionType: "list" });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe(`a list with 10 ${EXPECTED_HOMOGENEOUS_DATATYPE} datasets`);
+
+        await wrapper.setProps({ collectionType: "list:paired" });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe(`a list with 10 ${EXPECTED_HOMOGENEOUS_DATATYPE} pairs`);
+
+        await wrapper.setProps({ collectionType: "list:list" });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe(`a list with 10 ${EXPECTED_HOMOGENEOUS_DATATYPE} lists`);
+
+        await wrapper.setProps({ collectionType: "other" });
+        expect(wrapper.text()).toBe(`a nested list with 10 ${EXPECTED_HOMOGENEOUS_DATATYPE} dataset collections`);
     });
 });
diff --git a/client/src/components/History/Content/Collection/CollectionDescription.vue b/client/src/components/History/Content/Collection/CollectionDescription.vue
index b1cfcc3e732..faa2fd5947a 100644
--- a/client/src/components/History/Content/Collection/CollectionDescription.vue
+++ b/client/src/components/History/Content/Collection/CollectionDescription.vue
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 <template>
     <h6 class="description mt-1">
-        <span>a {{ collectionLabel | localize }}</span>
-        <span v-if="elementCount == 1">with 1 item</span>
-        <span v-else-if="elementCount > 1">with {{ elementCount }} items</span>
+        a {{ collectionLabel }} with {{ elementCount }}<b>{{ homogeneousDatatype }}</b> {{ pluralizedItem }}
     </h6>
 </template>
 
@@ -10,21 +8,55 @@
 export default {
     props: {
         collectionType: { type: String, required: true },
-        elementCount: { type: Number, required: true },
+        elementCount: { type: Number, required: false, default: undefined },
+        elementsDatatypes: { type: Array, required: false, default: () => [] },
     },
     data() {
         return {
             labels: {
                 list: "list",
-                paired: "dataset pair",
-                "list:paired": "list of pairs",
+                "list:paired": "list",
+                "list:list": "list",
+                paired: "pair",
             },
         };
     },
     computed: {
+        /**@return {String} */
         collectionLabel() {
             return this.labels[this.collectionType] || "nested list";
         },
+        /**@return {Boolean} */
+        hasSingleElement() {
+            return this.elementCount === 1;
+        },
+        /**@return {Boolean} */
+        isHomogeneous() {
+            return this.elementsDatatypes.length === 1;
+        },
+        /**@return {String} */
+        homogeneousDatatype() {
+            return this.isHomogeneous ? ` ${this.elementsDatatypes[0]}` : "";
+        },
+        /**@return {String} */
+        pluralizedItem() {
+            if (this.collectionType === "list:list") {
+                return this.pluralize("list");
+            }
+            if (this.collectionType === "list:paired") {
+                return this.pluralize("pair");
+            }
+            if (!Object.keys(this.labels).includes(this.collectionType)) {
+                //Any other kind of nested collection
+                return this.pluralize("dataset collection");
+            }
+            return this.pluralize("dataset");
+        },
+    },
+    methods: {
+        pluralize(word) {
+            return this.hasSingleElement ? word : `${word}s`;
+        },
     },
 };
 </script>
diff --git a/client/src/components/History/Content/ContentItem.vue b/client/src/components/History/Content/ContentItem.vue
index 52ef4928ffe..640637a45aa 100644
--- a/client/src/components/History/Content/ContentItem.vue
+++ b/client/src/components/History/Content/ContentItem.vue
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@
                     <CollectionDescription
                         v-if="!isDataset"
                         :collection-type="item.collection_type"
-                        :element-count="item.element_count" />
+                        :element-count="item.element_count"
+                        :elements-datatypes="item.elements_datatypes" />
                     <div v-if="item.tags && item.tags.length > 0" class="nametags">
                         <Nametag v-for="tag in item.tags" :key="tag" :tag="tag" />
                     </div>
diff --git a/client/src/components/History/CurrentCollection/CollectionDetails.vue b/client/src/components/History/CurrentCollection/CollectionDetails.vue
index a8cf7df5363..f09ec9d7d3c 100644
--- a/client/src/components/History/CurrentCollection/CollectionDetails.vue
+++ b/client/src/components/History/CurrentCollection/CollectionDetails.vue
@@ -7,7 +7,10 @@
         @save="$emit('update:dsc', $event)">
         <template v-slot:name>
             <h3 data-description="collection name display" v-short="dsc.name || 'Collection'" />
-            <CollectionDescription :item="dsc" />
+            <CollectionDescription
+                :collection-type="dsc.collection_type"
+                :element-count="dsc.element_count"
+                :elements-datatypes="dsc.elements_datatypes" />
         </template>
     </Details>
 </template>
diff --git a/client/src/components/providers/test/json/DatasetCollection.heterogeneous.json b/client/src/components/providers/test/json/DatasetCollection.heterogeneous.json
deleted file mode 100644
index 0aad7ebd8af..00000000000
--- a/client/src/components/providers/test/json/DatasetCollection.heterogeneous.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-{
-    "job_source_id": null,
-    "populated_state": "ok",
-    "type": "collection",
-    "hid": 9,
-    "name": "Heterogeneous list",
-    "url": "/api/histories/4ff6f47412c3e65e/contents/dataset_collections/5a1cff6882ddb5b2",
-    "element_count": 4,
-    "job_source_type": null,
-    "history_id": "4ff6f47412c3e65e",
-    "id": "5a1cff6882ddb5b2",
-    "type_id": "dataset_collection-5a1cff6882ddb5b2",
-    "create_time": "2020-06-26T14:22:58.435340",
-    "collection_type": "list",
-    "history_content_type": "dataset_collection",
-    "populated_state_message": null,
-    "job_state_summary": {
-        "error": 0,
-        "upload": 0,
-        "queued": 0,
-        "all_jobs": 0,
-        "paused": 0,
-        "ok": 0,
-        "new": 0,
-        "waiting": 0,
-        "failed": 0,
-        "deleted": 0,
-        "resubmitted": 0,
-        "running": 0,
-        "deleted_new": 0
-    },
-    "contents_url": "/api/dataset_collections/5a1cff6882ddb5b2/contents/f09437b8822035f7",
-    "tags": [],
-    "visible": true,
-    "deleted": false,
-    "populated": true,
-    "update_time": "2020-06-26T14:22:58.435348",
-    "collection_id": 23,
-    "elements_datatypes": ["txt", "csv", "tabular"]
-}
diff --git a/client/src/components/providers/test/json/DatasetCollection.homogeneous.json b/client/src/components/providers/test/json/DatasetCollection.homogeneous.json
deleted file mode 100644
index fcb738124be..00000000000
--- a/client/src/components/providers/test/json/DatasetCollection.homogeneous.json
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,40 +0,0 @@
-{
-    "job_source_id": null,
-    "populated_state": "ok",
-    "type": "collection",
-    "hid": 9,
-    "name": "Homogeneous list",
-    "url": "/api/histories/4ff6f47412c3e65e/contents/dataset_collections/5a1cff6882ddb5b2",
-    "element_count": 4,
-    "job_source_type": null,
-    "history_id": "4ff6f47412c3e65e",
-    "id": "5a1cff6882ddb5b2",
-    "type_id": "dataset_collection-5a1cff6882ddb5b2",
-    "create_time": "2020-06-26T14:22:58.435340",
-    "collection_type": "list",
-    "history_content_type": "dataset_collection",
-    "populated_state_message": null,
-    "job_state_summary": {
-        "error": 0,
-        "upload": 0,
-        "queued": 0,
-        "all_jobs": 0,
-        "paused": 0,
-        "ok": 0,
-        "new": 0,
-        "waiting": 0,
-        "failed": 0,
-        "deleted": 0,
-        "resubmitted": 0,
-        "running": 0,
-        "deleted_new": 0
-    },
-    "contents_url": "/api/dataset_collections/5a1cff6882ddb5b2/contents/f09437b8822035f7",
-    "tags": [],
-    "visible": true,
-    "deleted": false,
-    "populated": true,
-    "update_time": "2020-06-26T14:22:58.435348",
-    "collection_id": 23,
-    "elements_datatypes": ["txt"]
-}
diff --git a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/services/history_contents.py b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/services/history_contents.py
index b3b7c4ad7bf..fa528db14c8 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/services/history_contents.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/webapps/galaxy/services/history_contents.py
@@ -971,6 +971,7 @@ class HistoriesContentsService(ServiceBase):
                 f"Invalid filter found. When requesting stats, please avoid filtering by {non_orm_filter_keys}"
             )
 
+        serialization_params = self._handle_extra_serialization_for_media_type(serialization_params, accept)
         filter_query_params.order = filter_query_params.order or "hid-asc"
         order_by = self.build_order_by(self.history_contents_manager, filter_query_params.order)
         contents = self.history_contents_manager.contents(
@@ -999,6 +1000,18 @@ class HistoriesContentsService(ServiceBase):
             return HistoryContentsWithStatsResult.construct(contents=items, stats=stats)
         return HistoryContentsResult.construct(__root__=items)
 
+    def _handle_extra_serialization_for_media_type(
+        self,
+        serialization_params: SerializationParams,
+        request_media_type: str,
+    ) -> SerializationParams:
+        """According to the requested media type the response may include extra information."""
+        if request_media_type == HistoryContentsWithStatsResult.__accept_type__:
+            if not serialization_params.keys:
+                serialization_params.keys = []
+            serialization_params.keys.append("elements_datatypes")
+        return serialization_params
+
     def _serialize_legacy_content_item(
         self,
         trans,
diff --git a/lib/galaxy_test/api/test_history_contents.py b/lib/galaxy_test/api/test_history_contents.py
index 511aa61acfa..848b046a061 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy_test/api/test_history_contents.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy_test/api/test_history_contents.py
@@ -1138,6 +1138,20 @@ class HistoryContentsApiBulkOperationTestCase(ApiTestCase):
                 )
                 self._assert_status_code_is(response, 400)
 
+    def test_index_with_stats_has_extra_serialization(self):
+        expected_extra_keys_in_collections = ["elements_datatypes"]
+        with self.dataset_populator.test_history() as history_id:
+            self._create_collection_in_history(history_id)
+            response = self._get_contents_with_stats(
+                history_id,
+                search_query="&q=history_content_type-eq&qv=dataset_collection",
+            )
+            self._assert_status_code_is(response, 200)
+            contents_with_stats = response.json()
+            assert contents_with_stats["contents"]
+            collection = contents_with_stats["contents"][0]
+            self._assert_has_keys(collection, *expected_extra_keys_in_collections)
+
     def _get_contents_with_stats(self, history_id: str, search_query: str = ""):
         headers = {"accept": "application/vnd.galaxy.history.contents.stats+json"}
         search_response = self._get(f"histories/{history_id}/contents?v=dev{search_query}", headers=headers)