Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 Hello all, I visited this August the small fossil museum of the French town of Menat (Puy-de-Dôme), somewhere near the middle of the country. It is located at the site of a Paleocene lake that yielded thousands of unique continental fossils over the past 200 years, one of the few localities of its kind in Europe. Around 56 million years ago, the continental crust at what is now Menat stretched and fractured, and a large explosive eruption soon followed. Rainwater started filling the crater and a large lake (“maar lake”) quickly appeared, in and around which life developed. The lake was host to numerous microscopic algae (Diatomea) whose silica skeletons accumulated on the bottom, trapping animals and plants which fossilized. The site was discovered in the early 19th century, when the sediments were first exploited to make pigments and abrasive. The quarry remained open from 1825 to 1950, and since then it has been filled and a large pond now stands in its place (and we thus come full circle!). Most of the fossils found their way to private collections, although the Paris museum managed to get quite a lot of them also (but few are on display there…). The museum and a local association are still organizing small digs and the site is still yielding some very nice fossils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Plants are the most common remains one can find in Menat. About a hundred species have been identified there, mainly based on leaves, but also seeds, stems or occasional flowers. The flora is quite diversified, with ferns, pine trees, willows, poplar trees, laurels, cinnamon trees, rosebush, chestnut trees, holly, … Overall it denotes a rather warm (Mediterranean if not tropical) climate, at the time of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Well, I'm trying to upload more pictures, but the site doesn't want me to... I'll try again later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Along plants, insects are also a common find in Menat, with no less than two hundred species, many of which yet undescribed. Many are in a remarkable state of conservation, with legs and antennas still visible; sometimes, coloration is also present. Beetles make up the bulk of the species, with at least 100 taxa, followed by roaches and Fulgoras. Most of the insects found lived in the forest, although some species are characteristic of aquatic environments, such as Gerris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Freshwater fish are often found, but far from diversified: only three species inhabited the Menat lake. The most common one, Properca angusta, reached 15-20cm (6-8’’), and belonged to the family of tunas, groupers and perch. A smaller (10cm – 4’’) fish, less common, Thaumaturus brongniarti, was a distant cousin of salmons. Finally, a rare and solitary predator fish, Cyclurus valenciennesi, also lived in these waters. It could be as long as 60cm (24’’). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted August 31, 2016 Share Posted August 31, 2016 Thanks for this report! I didn't know about this historical site. Very interesting! Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted August 31, 2016 Author Share Posted August 31, 2016 I still have a few pictures of a reptile to upload, I'll do it later today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 Amazing! Love seeing the insects and fish! "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted September 1, 2016 Author Share Posted September 1, 2016 The inventory would not be complete without mentioning mammals, birds and reptiles. Although very rare finds, they are chiefly responsible for the interest paleontologists showed in the site. Many are still undetermined today. Not many localities yielded complete Paleocene mammals in France, for instance. Teeth and isolated bones can be found east of Paris, in river deposits, but never full skeletons. Sadly, these fossils, unlike plant leaves or insects, are often made of pyrite and several specimens were lost following rapid oxidization (pyritization) when exposed to the air. Among reptiles, turtles, lizards and a small Menatalligator were found in the 19th century, although many are now gone for the reason just mentioned. In 2000, however, an unknown reptile was unearthed, a Choristodera (a family of semi-aquatic reptiles that survived the K/T crisis but went extinct in the Miocene (?), to which Champsosaurus also belongs). The preservation is exceptional for the site, and both the fossil and its imprint are on display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quriosity Posted September 1, 2016 Author Share Posted September 1, 2016 Although most fossils are now in private collections or in the Paris museum’s one (which, in practice, sadly amounts to the same), the museum manages to give the (occasional) visitor a good idea of what the Menat environment and its associated flora and fauna were like, back in the late Paleocene. It’s definitely worth seeing if you happen to be in the area! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 where is Menat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguy Posted September 1, 2016 Share Posted September 1, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Pocock Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Nice visit to a good museum, thanks Regards Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorn Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Hello, I don’t think that this blog is still active but I still want to give it a shot. Is it possible to search for the fossils your self in Menat? If yes does somebody know the exact location. regards, Jorn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 I am pretty sure Menat is off limits. I tried to get there a few years ago... no luck even with the help of locals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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