Boxtel has an additional resident of 150 million years old. Curator Jonathan Wallaard of the Prehistoric Museum found a fossil in Mülheim, Germany, in 2019. After five years of research, it turns out to be an Archeopteryx, an intermediate form of a dinosaur and a bird. Colloquially this is also called a ‘primordial bird’. The fossil is a unique find.
“The moment you hold that piece in your hands is indescribable,” a proud Wallaard begins to say. “I was looking for possible fossils in southern Germany with my father. We had cleared a plateau where we wanted to investigate. We did this by splitting plates that were there in half. I soon found this fossil , but I didn’t immediately know that it was a primitive bird.”
The research into this fossil took five years. This is because a very large team, consisting of all kinds of experts, will describe the piece based on their own expertise. After much consultation and exchanging documents, it is now one hundred percent certain that it is a ‘primordial bird’. “The fact that he is now officially out into the world and I can shout: ‘look what we found’ is incredible.”
The year 2024 was a banner year for the Prehistoric Museum. Not only have they made several special finds, they have also achieved a record number of visitors. “I am really proud and happy that our team has achieved these results.”
Regular visitors do not have to be disappointed, because according to Wallaard, there are many great things planned for this year. “We want to completely prepare the Triceratops Veronika, which will be one of our largest projects. We are also working on building the skeleton of a diplodocus called Aurora and we are going to mount a plateosaurus, which we have borrowed from a Swiss museum. “
