A "Brunswick" Dinosaur

Excavation in Africa

Exhibition

The Dinosaur Hall of the Natural History Museum
Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

This sauropod was discovered by scientists from the SNHM on several adventurous expeditions in the Republic of the Niger between 2005 and 2008. It was the first German dinosaur excavation in Africa in almost a hundred years.

Trittsiegel eines Raptors

Trittsiegel eines Raptors

© Staatliches Naturhistorisches Museum

The recovered dinosaur led to a new permanent exhibition, opened on the 26th of November 2010, at the SNHM. Now, the results of the excavation in Niger are displayed in the former lecture room. The exhibition’s centerpiece is the first reconstructed skeleton of a Spinophorosaurus nigerensis worldwide, a sauropod that was initially described in 2009. The whole skeleton has a total length of 13 meters. Additionally, several of the original bones are displayed as well.

Other highlights in the dinosaur exhibition include the tracks of a predatory dinosaur completed by the skeleton of such a raptor. These tracks were published in 2011 under the name Paravipus didactyloides and caught the interest of many experts. They have been put under a small glass bridge so visitors can “set foot” on them. These predators lived along the Spinophorosaurus during the Middle Jurassic.

Another highly interesting exhibit is the partially preserved original skeleton of Jobaria tiguidensis, the second largest known dinosaur from Africa during the Late Jurassic. So far, this partial skeleton is the only one displayed in Europe and allows for significant conclusions about the way these animals used to live.

Several interactive media stations provide background information about the African giant of the Mesozoic, and a digital expedition diary takes visitors along on the adventurous journey through Africa.