Dinosauria (museum)
Encyclopedia
Dinosauria is a museum devoted to dinosaur
s in Espéraza
, Aude
, a département of southern France
.
Opened in 1992, it is directed by the association which created it, which is also named Dinosauria. The museum exhibits at least 35 different species of dinosaurs, mounted skeleton
s or life-size models. It also shows documentary films to the public. The museum collections and rooms include skeletons, paleontological workshops and some other elements. In 2007, the museum received the complete skeleton of an Ampelosaurus atacis specimen
, found six years earlier (2001) during excavations in Bellevue (Bèlavista in Occitan), in the town of Campagne-sur-Aude
(Campanha d'Aude in Occitan). This skeleton is the most complete dinosaur skeleton of its size ever found in France, and is nicknamed Eva aftere of Eva Morvan, the student who first discovered it during the 2000/2001 excavations.
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s in Espéraza
Espéraza
Espéraza is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.It lies on the River Aude just north of the foothills of the Pyrenees.-Population:-History:* The church was built during the 13th century....
, Aude
Aude
Aude is a department in south-central France named after the river Aude. The local council also calls the department "Cathar Country".Aude is also a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and mother...
, a département of southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Opened in 1992, it is directed by the association which created it, which is also named Dinosauria. The museum exhibits at least 35 different species of dinosaurs, mounted skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
s or life-size models. It also shows documentary films to the public. The museum collections and rooms include skeletons, paleontological workshops and some other elements. In 2007, the museum received the complete skeleton of an Ampelosaurus atacis specimen
Specimen
A specimen is a portion/quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study.BiologyA laboratory specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, a plant, part of a plant, or a microorganism, used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or...
, found six years earlier (2001) during excavations in Bellevue (Bèlavista in Occitan), in the town of Campagne-sur-Aude
Campagne-sur-Aude
Campagne-sur-Aude is a commune in the Aude department in southern France.-Population:-References:*...
(Campanha d'Aude in Occitan). This skeleton is the most complete dinosaur skeleton of its size ever found in France, and is nicknamed Eva aftere of Eva Morvan, the student who first discovered it during the 2000/2001 excavations.
Some of the museum specimens
- Ampelosaurus atacis (12 meters long complete skeleton)
- CamarasaurusCamarasaurusCamarasaurus meaning 'chambered lizard', referring to the hollow chambers in its vertebrae was a genus of quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs. It was the most common of the giant sauropods to be found in North America...
(skull) - Dunkleosteus terrelli (1.1 meters long skull of a giant fish)
- MamenchisaurusMamenchisaurusMamenchisaurus was a plant-eating four-legged dinosaur, known for its remarkably long neck which made up half its total length. It is known from numerous species which ranged in time from 160 to 145 million years ago, from the Oxfordian to Tithonian ages of the late Jurassic Period of...
(22 meters long complete skeleton) - MixopterusMixopterusMixopterus is a genus of a eurypterid. It belongs to the family Mixopteridae.-Description:Mixopterus were characterised by a robust exoskeletons with scattered tubercles or semicircular scales. The prosoma was subquadrate, protruding antemedially. The chelicerae were small...
(eurypterid, kind of gigantic sea scorpion) - Oviraptor philoceratops (skull)
- PsittacosaurusPsittacosaurusPsittacosaurus is a genus of psittacosaurid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Asia, about 130 to 100 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich dinosaur genus...
(complete skeleton) - PsittacosaurusPsittacosaurusPsittacosaurus is a genus of psittacosaurid ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now Asia, about 130 to 100 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich dinosaur genus...
(life size model) - QuetzalcoatlusQuetzalcoatlusQuetzalcoatlus was a pterodactyloid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous of North America , and one of the largest known flying animals of all time. It was a member of the Azhdarchidae, a family of advanced toothless pterosaurs with unusually long, stiffened necks...
(12 meters wingspan complete skeleton, but not a dinosaur, it is a pterosaurPterosaurPterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...
) - StenopterygiusStenopterygiusStenopterygius is an extinct genus of thunnosaur ichthyosaur known from Europe . Maximum length was 4 meters.-Description:...
, (complete skeleton, an ichthyosaurIchthyosaurIchthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins...
rather than a dinosaur) - StruthiosaurusStruthiosaurusStruthiosaurus is one of the smallest known and most basal genera of nodosaurid dinosaurs, from the Late Cretaceous period of Austria, Romania and France in Europe. It was protected by body armour...
(complete skeleton) - Tarascosaurus salluvicus (life size model)
- TriceratopsTriceratopsTriceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...
(skull) - Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus (complete skeleton)
- Tuojiangosaurus multispinus (complete skeleton)
- Tyrannosaurus rex (11 meters long complete skeleton)
- Variraptor mechinorum (feathered life size model)