“Like a surprise pocket”: in the west of France, dozens of dinosaurs come out of the ground

An omoplate of more than a meter next to an equally colossal and still partially buried bone string … Consequently, Welcome to one of the largest dinosaurs fossil deposits in the world, in Charente in the west of France.

The first bones of “like surprise pocket”: west france. In addition, a new species of these prehistoric giants were discovered last year on the Angeac-Charente site. Similarly, between Angoulême and Cognac. Therefore, A dozen additional fossils discovered in July. Moreover, during this 16th excavation campaign, gradually allowed this skeleton to be completed 140 million years old.

Yellowish. For example. Moreover. dark brown according to their depth, these vestiges are exhumed by enthusiasts and scientists on knees in clay, under a large white tent protecting them from the sun and “like surprise pocket”: west france, new the rain.

This new 20-meter long dinosaur. Moreover. a camarasaurus. a sort of cousin of the diplodocus, was “unknown in Western Europe” until last year, explains Jean-François Tournepiche, paleontologist and former curator of the museum of Angoulême.

Herbivore of 30 tonnes – "like surprise pocket": west france, new

This “enormous scientific discovery”. Meanwhile. according to the director of excavations Ronan Allain. makes it possible to question the movement of fauna, since this 30 -ton herbivore was “like surprise pocket”: west france, previously only known in North America and at an older period.

This deposit. For example. “the most excavated in the world”. always keeps “a surprise pocket effect”, smiles this paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. For example, This year, two dinosaur femurs appeared as soon as the tent is installed in an unexpected location.

It was already the discovery in 2010 of a 2.40-meter femur of a gigantic Turiasaurus. also of the family of the Sauropods, which gave birth to the reputation of Angeac-Charente.

Jewel of the paleontological “like surprise pocket”: west france, period of the lower Cretaceous. the site has already delivered more than 10,000 pieces sufficiently attractive to “inventory” on the 1,000 square meters of excavated quarries. He witnesses a frozen ecosystem at “a period of which we know practically nothing,” says Jean-François Tournepiche.

Nearly 45 species of vertebrates, crocodiles, turtles, ornithominosaurs (known as dinosaur-atstructure) … “like surprise pocket”: west france, new but also ferns and tropical plants cohabited in this swamp 140 million years ago.

The Camarasaurus would have died naturally on the spot. Once decomposed. its bones were slightly moved by the Charente – the river which gave its name to the department. to the municipality – some 100,000 years “like surprise pocket”: west france, new ago.

These very well preserved bones remain extremely fragile. Volunteers. scientists must surround them with cellophane. newspaper, plug the cavities with clay and lock them in armed plaster shells before extracting them. Some blocks can be around 2 tonnes.

Exhibition “like surprise pocket”: west france. in 2026

The three weeks of excavations thus feed more than a year of work in the laboratory. to “prepare the bones”. that is to say cleaning them, consolidating them and sometimes reconstituting them before being able to study them. “It is a long. meticulous work “like surprise pocket”: west france, new often underestimated under the effect Jurassic Park,” explains, toothbrush and bone in hand, Dominique Augier, fossil trainer.

Faced with him, around thirty visitors ended the site visit. In the first row, Noé Migné, 11, is imprisoned by “the enormous size of the Sauropod bones”.

He is part. with his mother and sister, of the lucky “like surprise pocket”: west france, new ones who were able to access the site. The two visits per day were “armored” as soon as reservations are opened in June. explains Jean-François Tournepiche, for whom “the extraordinary enthusiasm of the public is magical.”

The fossils of the site will eventually integrate the “like surprise pocket”: west france, collections of the Angoulême Museum. some will leave their native Southwest for an exhibition at the Museum of Natural History in Paris in June 2026.

In Angeac-Charente, Ronan Allain “lives the dream of all paleontologists”. For this rare French specialist in dinosaurs. the Grail “like surprise pocket”: west france. would be to find a carnivorous dinosaur bone, which is lacking at the moment.

Before closing the “like surprise pocket”: west france, new excavations. the team of around forty people has already come across a new bone. probably of the same dinosaur, but, for lack of time to extract it properly, they had to cover it. He will wait next year. Because here, scientists believe that there are still at least ten years of excavation to lead. And many other secrets to reveal.