![]() ![]() Like the Kem Kem region and the Egyptian desert where Stromer found the first Spinosaurus, the Sudanese Sahara was part of a contiguous river system in Africa. During their digs in Sudan, the scientists found a wide range of fossils from the Cretaceous period – skulls and partial skeletons of hitherto unknown crocodile ancestors and a plethora of remains of plants and small animals such as salamanders, frogs and snakes as well as fossilized bones and vertebrae of dinosaurs. At the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, palaeontologist Johannes Müller is working with colleagues from Canada, Germany and Sudan on a better understanding of the Cretaceous world of northern Africa. Scientific collections as well as systematic excavation campaigns help researchers reconstruct ancient ecosystems like the one Spinosaurus inhabited in the Sahara. Using these new finds and Stromer’s detailed notes, the team was able - for the very first time - to produce a complete digital model of Spinosaurus and gain insights into this unusual predator’s mode of life: The creature must have been semi-aquatic, preying on the large and abundant fish in this unusual river system. Excavations on location yielded hundreds of additional bone pieces and teeth of the Spinosaurus skeleton. A breathtaking search for the dig site began, taking an international research team, including Berlin-born palaeontologist Nizar Ibrahim, to Morocco’s remote Kem Kem region, a long escarpment preserving a wide range of fossil creatures and the geological evidence for a huge river system. It was not until 20 that more bones of a Spinosaurus resurfaced – in Morocco’s Sahara as well as at a museum collection in Italy. This unique specimen was destroyed in World War II in an air raid over Munich along with many other important fossil finds. Back in Munich, Stromer gave the species its scientific name, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, Egyptian spine lizard. Its long jaw was studded with conical teeth and a bony sail nearly 6-feet tall stood over its backbone. Among them was the partial skeleton of a very strange-looking dinosaur – a predator like no other. In 1910, German palaeontologist Ernst Stromer went on an expedition into the Egyptian desert where he found fossil remains of turtles, crocodile-like reptiles and dinosaur bones that were approximately 100 million years old. Palaeontological expeditions by pioneering explorers such as Ernst Stromer and Werner Janensch brought countless dinosaur fossils to Germany, among them the impressive dinosaur skeletons in the atrium of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, including that of Brachiosaurus brancai, the current holder of the Guinness World Record for “world’s tallest mounted dinosaur skeleton.” ![]() Now more than ever, the exchange of scientists regarding their discoveries, opinions and scientific insights are key to the research process. “Knowledge of the past is an important foundation when it comes to answering some of the most urgent questions of our time: How can we respond to the challenges of progressing climate change, the loss of species and biodiversity and the destruction of the environment in order to secure the future of our planet?” says director-general Johannes Vogel. The touring exhibition was developed by the National Geographic Society in cooperation with the University of Chicago and is complemented in Berlin with historic objects and fossils from the current research programme at the Museum für Naturkunde.Īll over the world, scientists study the past of our planet in order to draw conclusions for the present and the future. Was it really bigger than Tristan, the Tyrannosaurus rex that went on display recently? Why did it have a giant sail? What did the Sahara look like when Spinosaurus roamed this part of the world? With spectacular original fossils, true-to-life reconstructions and fascinating stories relating to the recent Spinosaurus find in the Sahara, the exhibition creates the picture of an ecosystem long past – when the desert was home to a unique river system. In its special exhibition Spinosaurus, the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin displays the first scientifically accurate and full-size skeleton ever assembled of this gigantic, approximately 100-million-year-old predatory dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |