Special Find to Draw Prehistory Enthusiasts to Dinosaur Museum Altmühltal

(eap) Germany’s Dinosaur Museum Altmühltal, which opened in Denkendorf, Bavaria, in 2016 (read also our cover story in EAP 6/2016), has numerous unique fossil finds on display for visitors, also thanks to its location in the Altmühltal excavation area. These are presented in the museum hall, which complements the approximately 1.5 km long outdoor discovery trail with scientifically detailed dinosaur replicas (supplied by Dinosaurier-Park International) and numerous hands-on activities, especially for children.

Photo: Courtesy of Dinosaurier Museum Altmühltal

As of 5 August, prehistory and dinosaur enthusiasts will be able to marvel at a new excavation piece that is already causing sensation in scientific expert circles on an international level: a 150-million-year-old, excellently preserved specimen of a prehistoric turtle with the technically correct designation “Solnhofia parsonsi”, which is subject of a technical paper of the renowned US scientific journal PLOS ONE. This spectacular find, which was made in a quarry in Painten in the district of Kelkheim and now belongs to the inventory of the Dinosaur Museum, allows conclusions to be drawn about the physique, way of life and habitat of the animal species that inhabited southern Germany in prehistoric times. The experts from Denkendorf made this unique find available to science – the international recognition now also arouses great interest on the part of museum visitors.

“This fossil is incredibly well preserved,” comments museum co-founder and palaeontologist Raimund Albersdörfer. “Its excellent condition has allowed researchers to draw numerous conclusions about the reptile’s habitat at the time.” Felix Augustin from the biogeology working group at the University of Tübingen confirms: “No Solnhofia individual has ever been described before where the extremities are so completely preserved.”

In order to make palaeontology in general and the numerous museum exhibits in particular exciting for children, the Dinosaur Museum Altmühltal also just started a cooperation with the children’s scientific magazine of “GEOLINO” – as part of the cooperation, a booklet on the topics of dinosaurs and prehistoric times as well as a “dino rally” for the park grounds in Denkendorf have already been produced. ■