Open Access

Serge Régnault

• After they had intrigued the inquiring or observant mind for decades, it was realised that certain "natural curiosities" were tracks of extinct creatures, related to gigantic birds or other antediluvian animals. At the beginning of the XIXth century a new science, ichnology, came into being and developed, thanks to the collection, preservation and study of fossil prints. The increasing quantity of evidence thus unearthed reveals the diversity of vertebrate faunas which have trod the earth’s surface and left behind valuable information about their characteristics and behaviour. Like other institutions labouring on behalf of conservation, knowledge of nature and the preservation of our natural heritage, the Nantes Natural History Museum has, for nearly two centuries, collected, conserved, displayed and brought to the attention of the public those valuable pieces of evidence, fossil footprints. Displays of fossil prints are regularly presented during different exhibitions. Examples of them permit one to follow the evolution of our knowledge of these prints and illustrate how the information yielded by these prints has been transmitted.