?Les P’tits Bougnats in search of dinosaurs with the Paléopolis park?

?Play with the P’tits Bougnats and win your Family Pass for the Paléopolis park?

Just answer the questions correctly. I’fun written quiz. If you have any doubts, re-listen to the P’tits bougnats program below! You have until May 4th included to try your luck.

Dinosaurs and other extinct animals

When did the first animal appear on Earth and what was it? This is a fairly recent discovery. The first animal is said to be a sponge fossil that is 890 million years old. It was discovered in Canada. And yes, sponges are animals!

How were the dinosaurs born? Dinosaurs, like all animals and living things, originated from common ancestors billions of years ago through a process called evolution, the transformation of species over time. time. The oldest dinosaurs known today were discovered in Argentina, South America. They are about 230 million years old. These dinosaurs were not huge animals, nor terrible predators. Crocodiles’ cousins ​​must have been much more dangerous more than 200 million years ago than the very first dinosaurs.

How many kinds of dinosaurs existed? We know about 1000 fossil dinosaurs to date. but you should know that there are still dinosaurs today. There are 10,000 species that exist today: these are birds. We therefore know 11,000 species: 1,000 fossils and 10,000 still alive today.

Who gave them their names? The word dinosaur was invented by a great English scientist, Richard Owen in 1842. Dinosaur comes from the Greek, deinos sauros which means: terribly large lizards. Afterwards, it is the scientists who study the dinosaurs who give them a name.

How tall and heavy was the largest and heaviest dinosaur in the world? It is surely a dinosaur of the family of the diplodocus, the sauropods, the dinosaurs with the long neck. It was therefore about 30 meters long and weighed about 80 tons. It’s very difficult for scientists to estimate the weight because they only have the bones. They don’t have the muscles, nor the cartilage… the estimated weight is therefore between 30 and 80 tons.

What did the dinosaurs eat? Some dinosaurs were carnivorous, they attacked other dinosaurs and other animals. Others were herbivores, they ate plants (plants, leaves…) because grass appeared after the disappearance of the dinosaurs. And some dinosaurs were omnivores, they had a varied diet like ours. They ate insects, meat and also plants.

Were all dinosaurs scary? No. It’s true that, when we think of dinosaurs, we often think of the T-Rex, the Velociraptor, the Spinosaurus, which are awful and terrible. But it’s like in nature today, there were more peaceful herbivores than terrible carnivores.

When and how did the dinosaurs disappear? Dinosaurs, except birds, died out 66 million years ago. One of the causes is a meteorite, but it is not known if this is the only reason. Because at that time, there were also a lot of very active volcanoes, especially in India. They were able to change the climate and we know that there was already a climate change before. So there are at least 3 different causes, but the meteorite was surely the worst.

Are there still living dinosaurs? Yes, there are still living dinosaurs, they are birds.

In the shoes of a paleontologist

Where were the bones of dinosaurs and other extinct animals found? Dinosaurs and extinct animals can be found on all continents.

Where were the first fossils found? Megalosaurus is the very first dinosaur fossil. It was found in 1677 in England. Fossils, we find in fact since the beginning of humanity, without really knowing that they were fossils. We found, for example, a biface, a carved stone of a prehistoric man who is more than 100,000 years old with a fossil inside.

Do we dig by chance to find fossils? No, we don’t dig by chance. Before setting up an excavation site, we study geological maps to know the nature of the rocks that are in the basement. There is no point in digging into rocks like granite, which is very present in Auvergne. Fossils will never be found in granite. You need sedimentary rocks, like limestone, clay, sandstone. These are rocks that formed in water. It is practically only in these rocks that one can find fossils.

Have all the extinct animals that ever existed been discovered? No, we haven’t found everything. It’s impossible, there are some that we will never find. But every year, paleontologists find new fossil species.

How do we know which bone belongs to which dinosaur? When we find a bone, we clear around it to see if there are other skeletal remains that can help us identify the animal. And then paleontologists are great specialists in anatomy, bones, skeletons. From a bone, they can very often find out who it belonged to. Otherwise, they look in scientific articles and they will compare. And if it’s new, they give a new name to their discovery.

How can missing animals be reconstituted? We use fossils. We start from the skeleton and from that, we have a lot of information, such as the insertion of the muscles. We also have feathers, because some dinosaurs had feathers, and today we know how to find the color that these feathers had at the time. Reconstructing a dinosaur is the job of the paleontologist but also of the paleoartist who then reconstructs it as it was at the time.

Can I find traces of missing animals by digging in my garden? And if so what should I do? To know if you can find fossils in your garden, you have to know the rock that is below the ground of the garden. If it’s volcanic rock, there isn’t any, but if it’s sedimentary rock, you can find fossils. If you find a fossil, the best way to find out what it is is to contact a university specializing in fossils or the nearest natural history museum, or that of Paris.

The Paléopolis park in Gannat in the Allier

When did Paléopolis open? Paléopolis opened in April 2012 with a single exhibition on polar dinosaurs. The complete opening of the park with the permanent exhibition took place in April 2013.

Why is the park called Paléopolis? Initially it was an association called Rhinopolis because in 1993, a rhinoceros fossil was discovered. Rhinopolis means the city of the rhinoceros. Then it became a Paléopolis park, which means the city of paleontology.

What exhibitions, what events, what activities are there at Paléopolis? There are many things to discover at Paléopolis!

• A permanent exhibition, the scientific heart of the park, where the whole history of life is traced thanks to fossils, some of which come from Allier in Auvergne.
• The Discovery Gallery, second exhibition space, with a more playful approach to paleontology with games, virtual reality headsets, interactive coloring, a fantastic theater with hologram projection
• New for 2022: an Escape Game on the discovery of Australopithecus Lucy by Yves Coppens

Are the reconstructed animals made with real bones? Some yes. At Paléopolis, there are casts, reconstructions, but also real fossils. 300 fossils are on display, including 200 originals.

Can we, by digging in the Paléopolis park, find dinosaur bones that have not yet been discovered? When you search the park in the workshops with the children, they are reconstructed construction sites, so you will not be able to find any unknown dinosaurs. And in addition, the rocks that are in the basement of Gannat, are much too recent to contain dinosaurs, dinosaur fossils. At Gannat, the site dates back 23 million years and, apart from the birds, all the other dinosaurs had long since disappeared. On the other hand, there are hundreds of fossils in Gannat, including rhinos.

Are you still selling the sabertooth tiger keyrings? To find out, just go to Paleopolis!!

Practical information

The park Paleopolis is located on the Chazoux site, route de Bègues in Gannat50 km from Clermont Ferrand and 20 km from Vichy.

Opening hours: Outside school holidays: Wednesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. – School holidays and public holidays: every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Prepare your visit to Paleopolis

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Behind the scenes of the show

From left to right: Léo Pazzé, Johanne, Noé, Ruben, Christophe Barbot, Lola, Morgane, Florence Laméra, Yacine, Lilou, Lienzo, Anaïs, Tom and Elea

The little bougnats, pupils of the school of Charmeil in the Allier, with their master Christophe Barbot, surrounded by Florence Laméra and Léo Pazzé from the park Paleopolis in Gannat

Also to listen the week of the little bougnatsthe news seen by the students of the Charmeil school in the Allier, every Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.