Fossils from France

Aix-en-Provence and nearby Céreste, both in southern France, are known for their Eocene fossil beds. These sites have produced beautifully preserved insects, fish, and plants, often found in laminated limestones. Fossils from here tend to be flat but detailed, and they remain relatively popular with collectors.

The Grès à Reptiles, a Late Cretaceous formation mostly in southern France, has yielded dinosaur remains — including titanosaurs, theropods, and eggs. The preservation isn’t always exceptional, but the site is significant for representing the final stages of European dinosaur faunas before the K–Pg extinction.

La Chapelle-aux-Saints and La Ferrassie, both in southwestern France, are major palaeoanthropological sites. These caves have produced Neanderthal skeletons, with La Chapelle being one of the first nearly complete Neanderthal individuals ever found. The finds were important in shaping early interpretations of Neanderthal anatomy and behaviour.

The Paris Basin preserves a rich record of marine fossils from the Paleogene. Sites here have produced a wide range of invertebrates — particularly molluscs and echinoids — which are often seen in old collections.

The Quercy Phosphorites Formation, in southwestern France, is best known for its fissure-fill deposits containing early mammals, birds, and reptiles — often preserved in phosphatic nodules. The Quercy sites have been studied for over a century and continue to yield important material.

France’s fossil record is broad, with notable contributions to both vertebrate and invertebrate palaeontology, as well as human evolution.