« Sur les traces des dinosaures » à la Grande Galerie de l'Évolution

Ready for a 140-million-year journey on the trail of Cretaceous dinosaurs? Follow the daily lives of palaeontologists at an excavation site, and learn more about the remarkable discoveries made at the famous Angeac-Charente palaeontological site!

A unique heritage to discover The palaeontological collections of the Musée d’Angoulême are on display in the Grande Galerie de l'Évolution at the Muséum! Did you know that it was in this region, Aquitaine, that one of the largest dinosaurs known in the world was discovered?

140 million years ago, northern Aquitaine was covered with swamps, lagoons and watercourses. Since the early 2000s, palaeontological research in Charente and Charente-Maritime has revealed fossil ecosystems rich in fauna and flora from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.

The Musée d’Angoulême thus houses remarkable palaeontological collections resulting from these discoveries: over 10,000 identified bones, 70,000 bone fragments and 80,000 micro-remains (bones measuring less than 10 mm), mainly from dinosaurs and crocodiles.

This is the finest Lower Cretaceous palaeontological collection existing in Europe. The exhibition Where are dinosaurs found? How does a palaeontological excavation site operate? And afterwards, what tools do palaeontologists use to prepare the fossils?

How do they study the specimens gathered in the laboratory? By exploring the exhibition On the Trail of Dinosaurs, immerse yourself in this vanished environment where crocodiles, turtles, fish, small mammals and herds of dinosaurs lived.

Discover a unique set of palaeontological sites in France, stretching from the Île d'Oléron all the way to Angeac-Charente. Skeletons, a landscape reconstruction, and a film provide all the elements for a grand journey on the border between the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods!

(Re)discover specimens from the Muséum's collections, in harmony with the collections of the Musée d’Angoulême. Throughout the tour, you can also admire the illustrations by Pierre Mazan.

Every year since it opened, the comic book artist has illustrated the behind-the-scenes excavation work at Angeac-Charente, which has become Europe's largest dinosaur deposit.