180-Million-Year-Old crocodile fossil discovered in Hérault

Sunday 12 October 2025 - 11:30

By: Sahili Aya

180-Million-Year-Old crocodile fossil discovered in Hérault

A nearly complete skeleton of a crocodile fossil was unveiled to the public on Friday at the Lodève Museum in Hérault, France. Stéphane Fouché, head of the museum’s paleontology collections, said, “This is the first time in France that a crocodile skeleton of this quality has been found so well preserved.”

The fossil measures five meters long and over two meters wide, revealing the limbs, the elongated mouth with teeth remnants, and the dorsal spikes of the animal.

Accidental Discovery

The story of this discovery is remarkable: part of the fossil was brought to the museum by a passerby who had found it by chance several dozen kilometers from Montpellier, in the inland region of Hérault. “This gentleman opened a cardboard box and showed us 11 vertebrae. At first, I didn’t know what animal it belonged to,” said Stéphane Fouché. He then visited the site and contacted researchers. “Erosion had done the work for us; the fossils were there, ready to be collected,” he recalled.

A Crocodile from the Dinosaur Era

This crocodile, which lived during the age of dinosaurs, inhabited both water and land. Its dentition suggests a mainly piscivorous diet. The species has not yet been officially identified, and further scientific analyses are planned, particularly on the skull, which remains attached to the rest of the body via the cervical vertebrae.

“This skull is especially interesting and important because it will determine the species,” explained Camille Auclair. “It could potentially be a new species. That is what scientists will need to determine.”

At the Lodève Museum, this fossil joins a collection already rich in specimens, mostly locally sourced, which trace 540 million years of Earth’s history.