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New Dinosaur Species Found in Provence

75 million year old fossil unearthed in Velaux, near Aix en Provence

featured in News & reviews Author Sophie Nicholson, Provence Editor Updated

After ten years of secrecy, palaeontologists have finally revealed that they have unearthed the 75 million year old remains of a titanosaur in the hills of Velaux near Aix en Provence.

The first species of its kind in Europe, the titanosaur was more than 12 metres long and a herbivore. The site was first located in the late 1990s but remained untouched until 2002 when the first real excavations began. Each member of the team was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement to prohibit selling on the fossils - a trend that developed after the iconic dinosaur film Jurassic Park.

Other fossils have been found at the site and once the full excavation has taken place, all of the remains will be handed over to the museum in Velaux.