In the last few years, the Departmental Conservation Office of Natural History, Archaeology and Ethnology has shown an interest in palaeontology. They are responsible for ordering a life-size sculpture of the Plateosaurus of Lons-le-Saulnier and its participation with the Museum Cuvier of Montbéliard in the “Year of the Dinosaurs in Franche-Comté” in 1992 with the exhibition “Dinopub et Ludosaure”. In 1996, it named its annual review “Jurassic’Jura”.

In 2003, The French Jura and Swiss Jura joined together “On the subject of dinosaurs”, a film in the “Fugues franco-suisses” (“Franco-Swiss Escapades”) series produced by FR3 Franche-Comté.

Today the Departmental Conservation Office assumes responsibility of the follow-up of the study of the dinosaur tracks site at Coisia, discovered in 2004 and belonging to the department. It assists the town of Loulle on whose territory a new imposing dinosaur tracks site was uncovered in 2006. For Coisia, the Conservation Office called on the expertise of its Swiss Jura colleagues...and thus the idea of moving forward together On the trail of the Jurassic dinosaurs of the Jura massif was born.

The archaeological excavations carried out since 1986 on the path of a motorway have led the Canton on the trail of the dinosaurs!

Created in 2000, a team dedicated to palaeontology deploys its activities within the Archaeology and Palaeontology Section of the Culture Office of the Republic and Canton of Jura, the headquarters of which are in Porrentruy. It is a pilot project in the field of palaeontology in Switzerland, and even in Europe. In fact it is the first time that a Swiss Canton officially supports palaeontological excavations and research along the path of a motorway, in this case the Transjurane or A16, which will join together the Swiss and French motorway networks by crossing the Jura massif from Bienne to Belfort. Between 2002 and 2006, almost 20,000 fossils were dug out in this way: over 3000 dinosaur tracks, several dozen tortoise shells, remains of crocodilia and an important collection of marine invertebrates (bivalves, ammonites, sea urchins, etc.) for the Courtedoux Upper Jurassic; bones of extinct mammals and fossilised tree trunks in the molasse terrains of Delémont and, for the last Ice Age, the remains of large mammals (mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, etc.) in Ajoie (Porrentruy region). From 2002, the dinosaur tracks discovered near to Courtedoux and Chevenez in Ajoie triggered scientific and political discussions. Indeed, the Jura Government decided to commit itself to the long-term conservation and enhancement of these sites.

This public establishment directly manages over 12 million hectares of highly diversified forests and nature parks for the State and the Local Authorities. It also watches over the natural habitats linked to the forests: peat-bogs, limestone grasslands, alpine grasslands, cliffs, etc).

The National Forestry Commission manages the National Forest of Coisia (159 hectares), situated on the embankment of the main road where the dinosaur tracks were discovered. Owner of part of the site along with the Jura General Council, it assists the project by cofinancing part of the research and development costs and by piloting the project on the French side.

In 1937 the Governments of the 5 French-speaking Cantons at the time adopted an intercantonal Convention authorising the organisation on their territory of a Lottery, known as the “Loterie Romande”, the net product of which is destined for works of charity and public utility for each of the contracting Cantons, chosen by these Cantons.

When it was created in 1978, the Republic and Canton of Jura joined the Loterie Romande. Nearly 56 million Francs have been distributed in this way. The Interreg project On the trail of the Jurassic dinosaurs of the Jura massif benefits from the financial support of the Loterie Romande.

The geoscience faculty of Fribourg is an active partner in the palaeontology of the Jura massif. A specialist in tertiary sediments and member of the group of scientists who draw up the list of geotopes in the Jura Canton, the Professor Jean-Pierre Berger is the designated scientist for the Jura Archaeology and Palaeontology Section. He has trained several of the palaeontologists currently working on the rote of the Transjurane motorway.

The relationship between the Lyon I University and the palaeontology of the Jura massif is of long date. Indeed it is notably responsible for the excavations of the Cerin site (Ain) and the study of the Loulle fossil plant layers (Jura).

Pierre Hantzpergue, Director of the Earth Sciences Training and Research Unit, Claude Bernard University, Lyon I, heads the scientific committee charged with studying the Coisia site. Along with Jean-Michel Mazin (C.N.R.S.), Pierre Hantzpergue leads the scientific study of the dinosaur tracks site at Loulle discovered in 2006. He requested and coordinated the publication of “Jurassic…Jura. Metamorphosis of a landscape” that accompanies the INTERREG project.

The Museum’s extensive collections are presented in a permanent exhibition organised in 5 sectors: mineralogy, history of the Earth, geology, regional fauna and regional zoology. It also provides different services such as a welfare centre for wild animals. On the scientific side, it works in close collaboration with the University of Fribourg.

Most of all, the Museum is well-known by the people of Fribourg for its temporary exhibitions. The exhibition Paleomania. On the trail of the Jurassic dinosaurs of the Jura massif is the first exhibition dedicated to recent research in palaeontology that the Museum will hold in 2008-2009.