Discovered in 2000, this fossilized marine reptile is one of the last representatives of the ichthyosaurs. It lived around 107 million years ago, in the Secondary Era, at the time of the dinosaurs.
In Prads Haute-Bléone, between Chanolles and Chavailles, the Ichthyosaurus of La Mélaie bears witness to a time when water covered the region’s land. The skeleton was discovered in Lower Cretaceous marl. Preserved on site, it is protected and managed by the National Geological Nature Reserve.
Younger than the Robine ichthyosaur, it is one of the last representatives of this family, which became extinct around 90 million years ago. The axis of the vertebral column is easily recognizable, with around thirty vertebrae. Sea currents on the one hand, and then erosion on the other, are responsible for the disappearance of many parts of the skeleton, which is cruelly lacking in skull and swimming fins, with a few vertebrae and ribs also having been dispersed. The site is closed in winter.
