Jacques Hurtrelle looks at his fossil with tenderness.
We can guess the shape of a crustacean.
And not just any one: a
meyeria hurtrelleorum
.
The name doesn't remind you of anything or rather does it?
It's normal.
Françoise and Jacques Hurtrelle gave their own name to an unknown species thanks to their passion and ten years of amateur collecting at the foot of the Cricqueboeuf cliffs, between Deauville and Honfleur (Calvados).
“It’s not for glory but I’m happy because our name is associated with this site, which we have traveled so much and to which we are so attached…” slips Jacques.
The retired couple settled in the region in 1995. He quickly spotted this small site, which he surveyed tirelessly.
“We were teachers,” says Françoise, “one in Deauville and the other in Honfleur.
We would meet up in the evening after class at the beach.
We sometimes came back empty-handed but also with little treasures to clean and recognize.
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A winter passion made easier by the favorable currents and also the gusts of wind which wash away the sand in a very changeable area: “From one day to the next, we could have a huge layer of sand and we could no longer find our little places , our stones”.
In ten years, Françoise and Jacques Hurtrelle have amassed 800 fossils.
So many “wonders” that they did not want to keep for themselves.
They therefore donated them to the Paléospace de Villers-sur-Mer, dedicated, among other things, to the fossils of the Vaches Noires cliffs, along the town.
A boon for the establishment's teams, including Laurent Picot, the scientific director: “The people who collect fossils on the beach advance science.
At first, they collect because they find it aesthetic.
Then they specialize and become aware of the scientific interest of their discoveries.
There, in general, they come to see us and give their fossils.”
And when the collection is out of the ordinary, like that of the Hurtrelles, a process begins.
The enthusiasts' finds were inventoried, labeled and then studied by international experts.
The publication has just been released.
It formalizes the discovery of a species of crustacean from the late Jurassic period (approximately 155 million years ago).
“It was a good idea to give your name,” smiled Laurent Picot towards Françoise (78 years old) and Jacques (74 years old), moved.
Former teachers, the two accomplice collectors confide their joy that their fossils “are here, in Paleospace and are useful”.
Their memories of passionate searches on winter evenings are etched just as firmly in their minds.