Giant prehistoric animals at the heart of the new exhibition at the Toulouse Museum

Appearing in Europe 60 million years ago, during the Paleocene, Gastornis – the giant bird – then colonized North America and Asia before becoming extinct 42 million years ago. It lived in the south of France 52 million years ago. “Certain parts of his skeleton are missing and have therefore been reconstructed in facsimile, such as his pelvis and one of his legs, in order to be as close as possible to what existed,” explains Alexandre Mille, head of the collections and conservation department of the Museum. from Toulouse. After cross-checking with the scientists, we put it in a dynamic position to show its size of 1.70 meters and its large and powerful beak, even though it is a vegetivore. »

In the shoes of a paleontologist, the visitor discovers the history of eight little-known species from the Cenozoic (the last geological era and therefore ours) through five titanic 3D sculptures and three life-size skeletons, as Gigantopithecus blacki, the Asian monkey as tall as three orangutans, and Titanoboa, the largest snake that ever lived. Thanks to these interactive devices, this exhibition, produced by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and enriched by the Toulouse establishment, sheds light on the disappearance of these colossi, which ultimately proved fragile.