North Rhine-Westphalia will fund a series of three exhibitions showcasing spectacular paleontological finds from this federal state with 1.5 million euros. Among the exhibits will be the skeleton of a 6.5-meter-long prehistoric whale from Kevelaer, the 163-million-year-old skeleton of a predatory dinosaur known as the 'Monster of Minden', and a mammoth skull with tusks. The first exhibition on the Ice Age will start in April at the Ruhr Museum in Essen.
Exhibition funding by the government
The Ministry for Regional Identity, Communities and Local Government of North Rhine-Westphalia has allocated 1.5 million euros to fund a series of three paleontological exhibitions to be held in various museums across the federal state.
Main exhibition exhibits
Three key finds will be presented at the exhibitions: the complete skeleton of a prehistoric whale measuring 6.5 meters in length, the fossils of the predatory dinosaur 'Wiehenvenator albati' known as the 'Monster of Minden', and a mammoth skull with preserved tusks.
Schedule and locations
The exhibition series will begin in April with an Ice Age exhibition at the Ruhr Museum in Essen. In July, the exhibition will move to the LWL Museum of Natural History in Münster, where dinosaur traces and multimedia reconstructions will be shown.
Geological context of the region
The exhibitions highlight the prehistoric past of North Rhine-Westphalia, which in distant geological epochs was largely covered by sea, explaining the presence of marine creature fossils.
The government of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia has announced funding for a series of three paleontological exhibitions that will present extraordinary fossils discovered within its territory. The 1.5 million euro project aims to bring the region's prehistoric past closer to the public. Among the most valuable exhibits will be the complete skeleton of a prehistoric whale, measuring 6.5 meters in length, which was excavated in Kevelaer. Another unique find are the fossils of a predatory dinosaur, named Wiehenvenator albati, colloquially called the 'Monster of Minden'. Its age is estimated at 163 million years. The third key object is a mammoth skull with both tusks preserved, representing the Ice Age. The exhibitions are traveling and are based on hundreds of loans from various institutions and collectors. The area of present-day Germany, including North Rhine-Westphalia, during the Jurassic period, about 200-145 million years ago, was partly under a shallow sea, which favored the formation of marine organism fossils. During the Pleistocene, known as the Ice Age, which lasted from about 2.5 million to 11,700 years ago, mammoths and other megafauna lived in these areas, their remains preserved in sediments.The first exhibition, dedicated to the Ice Age and presenting, among other things, mammoth remains, will open in April at the Ruhrmuseum in Essen. The next exhibition, scheduled for July 10 at the LWL Museum of Natural History in Münster, will focus on dinosaurs. It will include not only original fossils but also multimedia reconstructions to illustrate the appearance and living environment of these animals. The organizers emphasize that the project's goal is to show that in prehistoric times, a significant part of the territory of today's North Rhine-Westphalia was under water, which explains the wealth of marine fossils. The initiative thus combines an educational function with the promotion of regional natural heritage.