France Recollections

["Steve Brusatte" <dinoland@lycos.com>]

Bonjour mes amis,
Well, I've just returned from the land of workers strikes, pseudo-socialism, 
romance, Pyroraptor, and all else that is good in life...France :-)  I was very 
pleased to have been able to visit the Paris Museum of Natural History's 
Comparative Anatomy and Paleontology Hall and the Lascaux Caves in the Quercy 
region.  Plus, I got to hone my pas terrible French skills.  

Anyway, I thought I would tell a little bit about the Paris Museum and the 
caves.  

On the first day I made it a point to take the Metro to the Museum of 
Comparative Anatomy and Paleontology.  This museum, in my opinion, is one of 
the grandest in the world.  It is certainly one of the most historical.  
Compared to most American museums it may seem a bit unspectacular, as it has no 
computerized displays and many fossils are not accompanied by descriptions.  
However, paleo-traditionalists will love it.  In Florence a few years ago I was 
able to see Cuvier's Villafranchian collection in their museum of natural 
history. I was thrilled to have another chance to see more of his specimens in 
Paris.

Keeping on a relevant subject line, the museum does have some nice dinosaurs, 
including skeletons of Allosaurus, Diplodocus, Iguanadon, and Tarbosaurus.  
There are nice skulls of Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, plus material from 
Majungatholus, Spinosaurus, Protoceratops, and "Pyroraptor," among others.  
Check out Fred Bervoets' Dino Data European Database for a complete listing of 
the specimens.  

However, the real strength of the museum are its mammals, many of which were 
collected in France, French territories, or other regions of Europe.  The 
centerpiece is the large skeleton of Mammuthus meridionalis, a 
Pliocene-Pleistocene elephant found in Durfort, France.  There is also a nice 
display of mammals found near Montpellier, France, including the bear 
Agriotherium, the sirenian Felsinotherium, and the mastodon Anancus.  I did 
stay in Montpellier for two days, but because I was on a school trip I did not 
have the chance to explore any fossil areas or museums.  

There were also nice Paleocene mammals from Cernay, France (Arctocyon, 
Plesiadapis, and Pleuraspidotherium, among others); the Paris Basin 
(Paleotherium...studied by Cuvier); Quercy (Paleotherium and Anaplotherium); 
Perrier (Leptobos and Gazellospira); Sansen (Archaeobelodon); and Normandy 
(Piveteausaurus).

There were also two great crocodylians on display, including Steneosaurus 
heberti from the Jurassic of Normandy, and Sarcosuchus imperator from the 
Jurassic of Niger.  Along with these were great invertebrate fossils, and, of 
course, the marine reptiles!

Even though I had a very limited time, I loved the museum, and would go back in 
a heartbeat.  

Okay, now onto the Lascaux caves.  The caves themselves are 17,000 years old, 
and were made by Cro-Magnon men.  They were discovered in 1940 by three boys, 
who chased their lost dog down a hole in the ground.  After discovering the 
art, they contacted a local priest who was a noted amateur anthropologist.  The 
original caves were closed in the 1960's because tourists were damaging them.  
Today tourists are allowed to view a reproduction.  This subject really isn't a 
list matter, so I will keep it relatively short.  However, I will add this: 
there were no mastodons or mammoths represented in the Lascaux caves.  Most of 
the art was mostly that of cattle and horses.  But, in other caves in the 
Quercy region, large elephant paintings have been found. This must say 
something about the environment of the area during the last Ice Age.  

Well, my recollections will end here.  I wish I could have been able to see 
more, but, hey, c'est la vie.  

Steve

---
***************************************************************
Steve Brusatte-DINO LAND PALEONTOLOGY
SITE: http://www.geocities.com/stegob
ONLINE CLUB: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thedinolanddinosaurdigsite
WEBRING: http://home.wanadoo.nl/dinodata.net/
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE SITE: http://www.geocities.com/stegob/international.html
****************************************************************





Get 250 color business cards for FREE!
http://businesscards.lycos.com/vp/fastpath/