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My dear friends, almost a year ago that I stopped publishing my adventures as a geologist. During this time I have been away from the networks, facing several personal and family problems. But I have decided to return to share with Hive's family. On this occasion I show you my experiences visiting the Jura Museum. The Jura Museum, is located in the city of Eichstätt, in the Bavaria countryside. It houses an exceptional fossil collection of Solnhofen's limestone, from an ancient tropical reef landscape and lagoons of the Jurassic period. Includes marine reptiles, pterosaurs, fish and other exceptionally conserved prehistoric specimens. These limestone rocks (limestone from solnhofen) are famous in the world because of the degree of conservation that fossils have.
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The museum star are the fossils of the limestones of Solnhofen (≈150 million years). This old seabed, today quarry, is a "lagerstätte" (exceptional site), where soft tissues are even preserved. Marine reptiles: ichthyiosaurs, plesiosaurs, primitive crocodiles and turtles. Pterosaurs: Complete skeletons of flying reptiles, some with fossilized relent membranes. Diverse fauna: fish (including primitive sharks), crustaceans, jellyfish, sea stars, insects and plants. Archaeopteryx: the museum's treasure: It exhibits the "Eichstätt copy" (the 3rd discovered, scientifically very valuable for its well -preserved skull). It is key to understanding the Dinosaur-Ave evolution: shows asymmetric feathers (indicating flight capacity), teeth and claws in the wings. It has a dedicated room that explains its discovery, anatomy and importance. Living Aquarius: an ocean in Bavaria: It is the largest coral reef in Bavaria (20,000 liters). It houses ≈100 species (reef fish, corals, anemones, crustaceans) that illustrate the biodiversity of marine ecosystems, creating a living contrast with fossils.
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The museum is famous for possessing several copies of Archeopteryx, An extinct genre of primitive birds (or Avian dinosaurs) that lived ≈150 million years ago (superior jurássic) in what is now Bavaria, Germany. It is considered the most iconic fossil of evolution for its key role in understanding the origin of birds. He is considered a lost link. It was the first fossil that demonstrated the connection between theore -the -art dinosaurs (such as Velociraptor) and modern birds. Its discovery (1861) coincided with the publication of the origin of the species, providing fossil evidence of evolutionary transition. Today it is discussed if it was a primitive bird, a dinosaur with feathers, or both. Only 13 fossil specimens are known, all from the limestones of Solnhofen (Bavaria).
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If you have come here I just hope you liked this little tour of the Jura Museum, in the next few days I will be uploading more images and data on this and other museums that I could access in this visit. Visit that was possible thanks to the academic collaboration between Cuba and Germany and financed by the German DAAD, one of the world's largest academic exchange services. I hope I have contributed a grain of sand to the knowledge provided by the study of the forms of past lives through fossils. Paleontology is undoubtedly a powerful tool of geology. If you've yelled here, I just have to wish you many good things and see you in the next to learn from geology.