In Angeac-Charente, a site well known to paleontologists recently delivered a major surprise: scientists discovered a new species of giant dinosaur on July 10, twenty kilometers from Angoulême (Charente) in a quarry that had been excavated since 2010. An immense rib cage in the form of a pile of bones with a pelvis, vertebrae, 1.4 meter long ribs, a femur and teeth were unearthed on the Charente site. This specimen identified as a “sauropod” belongs to a previously unknown species of herbivorous dinosaur, apparently the largest dinosaur that ever existed. The sauropod is a megalosaurus, scientifically called “dubreuillosaurus”, a giant herbivore that roamed the Angoulême region at the beginning of the Cretaceous period, 140 million years ago.
The Grand Cognac urban area intends to share this new paleontological discovery with residents and tourists. A project to enhance the site’s heritage and tourism value is currently under study. The location is still uncertain, as the paleontological site is submerged all year round, except for three weeks, making it difficult to set up a permanent site accessible all year round. The new cultural project may therefore not be located on the archaeological site itself, but on dry land. Still at the study stage, the project is being managed by the Grand Cognac urban area and the Scarabée cultural engineering agency.
“The idea is not to make a “Dinoland”, an amusement park”confides Virginie Beauvallet, Director of Culture for the Grand Cognac agglomeration. Attached to the Angoulême Museum, the future interpretation center will not present collections, but will offer digital immersion tools and life-size 3D modeling. “3D tools are key elements for the attractiveness and understanding of the work of paleontologists” explains Virginie Beauvallet. The new cultural space will be designed on the same model as “Tumulte”, the new 3D attraction on dinosaurs that opened a few days after the discovery of the sauropod skeleton, not far from the site. Equipped with 3D glasses, visitors can go hunting for different dinosaurs in an immersive 360-degree journey.
The Angeac-Charente site is known worldwide for having been a site of major discoveries since 2010. It was originally a vast plain populated by dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period (-145 to -66 million years). “I have never seen such a quantity of remains in a French deposit”explains Ronan Allain, the paleontologist in charge of the excavations, in a portrait for Release. For about fifteen years, scientists present on site have discovered an entire ecosystem of 12 dinosaurs and 38 animal species buried in the sediments. In 2010 and then in 2019, paleontologists unearthed in turn two 2-meter-long femurs belonging to two very large specimens, now exhibited at the Angoulême Museum.
Other exciting discoveries are currently underway on the site: “a very large piece of ankle belonging to a theropod, a carnivorous dinosaur and a big bad guy full of teeth like the tyrannosaurus” unveils Ronan Allain for The Parisian.
