Water, land, air:
real primeval sensations
Germany’s scariest teenager
T. rex fascinates to this day as the most powerful carnivorous dinosaur of all time. Tyrannosaurus hunted large herbivores. With the strongest biting force of any land predator ever, it could crush even the thickest bones.
At ten metres long, the “ROCKY” on display is the only original skeleton of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex in the world. It is one of only three original Tyrannosaurus skeletons in Europe and the only one on display in Germany. ROCKY” was found in the US state of South Dakota. The skeleton is between 66 and 68 million years old.
The T. rex of the air
“DRACULA” is the life-size reconstruction of the largest and heaviest pterosaur ever found – a spectacularly unique specimen. With a wingspan of 14 metres and a height on all fours of about four metres, it surpasses all previously discovered pterosaurs – and is larger than many a small aircraft. Its bones are hollow and thin-walled, so that the giant creature must have weighed only a few hundred kilograms. Dracula” was discovered in 2009 in Transylvania, Romania.
Nimble Killer
Allosaurs are considered the “bad boys” of film history. In numerous Hollywood productions, the agile predatory dinosaurs are portrayed as aggressive and dangerous hunters and scavengers. “LITTLE AL” is the original skeleton of the youngest allosaur ever found. The two-year-old Jurassic predatory dinosaur could run faster (up to about 35 km/h) and with more endurance than larger contemporaries, and probably fed on carrion or smaller animals it preyed on. Paleontologists discovered “LITTLE AL” in 2011 during an excavation in the US state of Wyoming.
Murderous Sea Crocodile
Dakosaurus was the undisputed ruler of the Jurassic Sea. There, this marine crocodile was at the top of the food chain. It fed on marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and probably resembled today’s marine predators such as the great white shark or orcas in its way of life. The fossil of this five-metre-long animal is the world’s largest slab limestone fossil ever. It is about 130 to 150 million years old and was found in Painten, Bavaria.
