Dinosauria is a museum devoted to

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s in

Espéraza Espéraza (; oc, Esperasan) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. It lies on the Aude just north of the foothills of the Pyrenees. Population History * The church was built during the 13th century. * One of the old pilgri ...

Aude Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it "Ca ...

, a ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. 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 A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

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 ''Ampelosaurus'' ( ; meaning "vine lizard") is a titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now France. Its type species is ''A. atacis'', named by Le Loeuff in 1995. A possible unnamed species has given ''Ampel ...

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

, found six years earlier (2001) during excavations in Bellevue (''Bèlavista'' in

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

), in the town of

Campagne-sur-Aude Campagne-sur-Aude (; oc, Campanha d'Aude) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Aude department The following is a list of the 433 communes of the Aude department of France. The c ...

(''Campanha d'Aude'' in Occitan). This skeleton is the most complete dinosaur skeleton of its size ever found in France,Museum history
Dinosauria and is nicknamed ''Eva'', after the student Eva Morvan, who first discovered it during the 2000/2001 excavations.

Some of the museum specimens

* ''

'' (12 meters long complete skeleton) * ''

Camarasaurus ''Camarasaurus'' ( ) was a genus of quadrupedal, herbivorous dinosaurs and is the most common North American sauropod fossil. Its fossil remains have been found in the Morrison Formation, dating to the Late Jurassic epoch (Kimmeridgian to Titho ...

'' (skull) * ''

Dunkleosteus terrelli ''Dunkleosteus'' is an extinct genus of large armored, jawed fishes that existed during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago. It consists of ten species, some of which are among the largest placoderms to have ever lived: ...

'' (1.1 meters long skull of a giant fish) * ''

Mamenchisaurus ''Mamenchisaurus'' (or spelling pronunciation ) is a genus of sauropod dinosaur known for their remarkably long necks which made up nearly half the total body length. Numerous species have been assigned to the genus; however, many of these might ...

'' (22 meters long complete skeleton) * '' Mixopterus'' (

eurypterid Eurypterids, often informally called sea scorpions, are a group of extinct arthropods that form the Order (biology), order Eurypterida. The earliest known eurypterids date to the Darriwilian stage of the Ordovician period 467.3 Myr, million yea ...

, a kind of gigantic sea scorpion) * ''

Oviraptor philoceratops ''Oviraptor'' (; ) is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. The first remains were collected from the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia in 1923 during a paleontological expedition led by Roy Chapman ...

'' (skull) * ''

Psittacosaurus ''Psittacosaurus'' ( ; "parrot lizard") is a genus of extinct ceratopsian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of what is now Asia, existing between 126 and 101 million years ago. It is notable for being the most species-rich non-avian dinosaur gen ...

'' (complete skeleton) * ''

'' (life size model) * ''

Quetzalcoatlus ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a genus of pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous period of North America (Maastrichtian stage); its members were among the largest known flying animals of all time. ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is a member of the Azhdarchidae, ...

'' (12 meters wingspan complete skeleton; not a dinosaur, rather a

pterosaur Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to ...

) * ''

Stenopterygius ''Stenopterygius'' is an extinct genus of thunnosaur ichthyosaur known from Europe (England, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland). This genus of ichthyosaur was about long and weighed .Huene F. von 1939. Ein ganzes Ichthyosaurier-Skelett ...

'', (complete skeleton, an

ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurs (Ancient Greek for "fish lizard" – and ) are large extinct marine reptiles. Ichthyosaurs belong to the order known as Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia ('fish flippers' – a designation introduced by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, altho ...

rather than a dinosaur) * ''

Struthiosaurus ''Struthiosaurus'' (Latin ''struthio'' = ostrich + Greek ''sauros'' = lizard) is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaurs, from the Late Cretaceous period (Santonian-Maastrichtian) of Austria, Romania, France and Hungary in Europe.

'' (complete skeleton) * '' Tarascosaurus salluvicus'' (life size model) * ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsidae, ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 m ...

'' (skull) * ''

Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus ''Tsintaosaurus'' (; meaning "Qingdao lizard", after the old transliteration "Tsingtao") is a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from China. It was about long and weighed . The type species is ''Tsintaosaurus spinorhinus'', first described by Chine ...

'' (complete skeleton) * ''

Tuojiangosaurus multispinus ''Tuojiangosaurus'' (meaning "Tuo River lizard") is a genus of herbivorous stegosaurian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period, recovered from the Upper Shaximiao Formation of what is now Sichuan Province in China. Description ''Tuojiangosaurus ...

'' (complete skeleton) * ''

Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

'' (11 meters long complete skeleton) * '' Variraptor mechinorum'' (feathered life size model)

References

External links

Dinosauria website
Museums established in 1992 Natural history museums in France Museums in Aude Dinosaur museums {{dinosaur-stub