Would you have thought that old bone finds from the Harz foothills were used as evidence of a prehistoric unicorn? In 1663, fossilized bones from the Ice Age (Pleistocene) were found while mining gypsum in the Sewecken mountains (Seweckenberge) southwest of Quedlinburgs old municipal area. Not only did these bones probably come from different animals, […]
Read more »
Giant deer Megaloceros giganteus* The museum’s highlight is the complete skeleton of a male giant deer, which was found in a bog in Ireland. The museum acquired this skeleton in 1902. Antler fragments from the giant deer have also been found in gravel layers in Magdeburg. In addition, the occurrence of reindeer, elk and red […]
Leaf mats The Quedlinburg leaf mats In the exhibition on the history of the development of life, a large stone slab with leaves can be seen. This is an accumulation of fossilised leaves from the backwater of a river. The leaves are 85 million years old and date from the Cretaceous period. The fossil was […]
The northern cassowary Casuarius unappendiculatus The line of animals in the middle of the second exhibition hall is led by an impressive flightless bird that stands out with its horn crest and colourful neck. The northern cassowary has a body height of 1.60 m and, at up to 85 kg, is one of the heaviest […]
Braunborsten-Gürteltier (Chaetophractus villosus) Together with the duck-billed platypus described above, the showcase of special mammals contains a representative of the armadillos. Armadillos are the only living mammals with a shell made of bony and horny plates. Along with the anteater and the sloth, they belong to the group known as Xenarthra. Armadillos have been around […]
The kākāpō (owl parrot) Strigops habroptila The museum’s exhibition includes a specimen of one of the rarest birds on earth. The Māori people of New Zealand call it the kākāpō, which means “night parrot”. At 4 kg, it is the heaviest parrot in the world. However, its weight prevents it from flying, like some other […]
The platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus At the back of the animal hall, there is an extremely curious animal with fur and a beak-shaped snout. The first specimens to arrive in Europe at the end of the 18th century were thought by scientists to be a taxidermist’s joke. It took a long time to discover the interesting […]
