the large mammals of the past stars of the new exhibition at the Toulouse Museum

This fall, the Toulouse Museum invites you to discover its new major exhibition. “Giants” follows in the footsteps of the large mammals that populated our world after the dinosaurs. A fascinating immersion into the daily life of these titanic animals to experience from October 8, 2024 and until June 29, 2025. [Partenariat]

“When we talk about giant animals, the image of dinosaurs immediately comes to the public’s mind.”, explains Francis Duranthon, paleontologist, curator and director of the Natural History Museum of Toulouse since 2011. “However, the paleontological archives preserve the memory of many giant, even gigantic, species which frequented the oceans or trod the soil of the planet, long after the dinosaurs.”

Giant animals have existed throughout the history of life on our planet. Although the large dinosaurs of the Mesozoic are the best known in our imagination, other giants populated the planet well before, such as the arthropods of the Carboniferous, with dragonflies of 70 cm wingspan and centipedes of 2 meters long!

After the disappearance of the large dinosaurs 66 million years ago, other animals appeared. All the major groups are setting up and diversifying, occupying the niches left vacant.

This exhibition explores the traces of these lesser-known giants, those of the Cenozoic period, the age of mammals, which began 65 million years ago and which still continues today.

You will be able to discover the history of 8 little-known Cenozoic species through 3 life-size skeletons and 5 titanic 3D sculptures.

At what size is an animal considered giant?

“SIf we consider the average size of all species of mammals (where rodents and bats are much more numerous than antelopes and whales), the average weight is around 450 grams, or that of a little rat. With this perspective, a rabbit becomes a large mammal!” explains the Museum to us.

Despite this relativity, a vertebrate is generally considered to belong to the “megafauna” – that is to say very large animals that existed in the past – if it weighs more than 45 kg. A herbivorous mammal weighing more than 1000 kg is classified as a “mega-herbivore”. These today include elephants, rhinos, hippos, bison, buffalo and giraffes.

We won’t spoil the advantages and disadvantages of being an animal of this size, nor how these living beings were able to reach such proportions, nor even the reasons for their disappearances, the exhibition covers the subject extensively! It’s up to you to find out…

A giant snake 15 meters long, a prehistoric rhinoceros weighing 17 tonnes, a monkey as tall as 3 orangutans, a giant shark with big teeth or even a colossal sperm whale 17 meters long… It’s difficult to realize that these creatures have one day surveyed the earth or crisscrossed our oceans!

However, this is indeed the case. The Toulouse Museum invites you to delve into the daily life of these extraordinary animals and learn more about their lives during the Cenozoic through the discovery of life-size skeletons and titanic 3D sculptures.

For the first time in Europe, the skeleton of Gastornis Lawrencea species of giant land bird that did not know how to fly (discovered in 2018 in Aude), will be visible at the Natural History Museum of Toulouse.

“The exhibition Giants designed by our colleagues from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, is augmented by two exceptional specimens, unique in the world, collected in the surroundings of Toulouse. The giant bird Gastornis and the Pyrenees mastodon are thus presented to the public for the first time as part of this exhibition.”, enthuses Francis Duranthon.

For example, a mammoth tusk was discovered under the Boulevard de Strasbourg.

Toulouse Natural History Museum

Alongside it, the woolly mammoth, an emblematic animal of prehistory, will also have its place in the exhibition. Many remains of this species have been found in the very basement of the city of Toulouse! We discovered, for example, a mammoth tusk under the boulevard de Strasbourg, molars near Caousou or other fragments, in front of 51 rue Louis Plana, and even to the west of Saint-Cyprien station .

If these giants once populated our planet, some still exist today: elephants, gorillas, rhinos, blue whales… However, their future remains uncertain in a world weakened by human activities. Their size makes them more sensitive to changes than smaller species. Francis Duranthon alerts us: “It’s completely normal for animal species to become extinct, but today it’s happening faster than ever. And this is mainly due to humans. Let’s hope that today’s giants don’t become yesterday’s!”

It then appears very clearly to us that the objective of this exhibition, in addition to arousing vocations as paleontologists – whose work is also admirably highlighted here – is above all to raise our awareness of the impact of our activities on the life of the species around us. And that makes you think!

“[…] These exceptional fossils should alert us to the need to do everything possible to safeguard the planet’s biodiversity.”concludes Francis Duranthon.

France 3 Occitanie is a partner of the “Giants” exhibition at the Natural History Museum of Toulouse.