Paläontologische Sammlung der Universität

Description

At the Museum of the University of Tübingen (MUT), the Palaeontological Collection of the University of Tübingen occupies a central role as a scientific collection with historical roots in the late 18th century. It is housed in Tübingen at Sigwartstraße 10 and forms a subcollection of the MUT.

Originally assembled for teaching, the collection grew over time through contributions from university members and numerous private collections. Today the collection comprises about 600,000 objects and spans the full spectrum of palaeontological research, from micropalaeontology to vertebrate palaeontology. The exhibition rooms were comprehensively modernised and redesigned in 2010 and 2011.

The displayed specimens provide an overview of the fossils of southwest Germany and of the development of life. Particular emphases are marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and marine crocodiles, as well as the early evolution of mammals and their therapsid precursors.

On a national level, the collection is among the more extensive university palaeontological collections in Germany. Noteworthy are holdings that document important lines of research: the systematic exploration of the Swabian Alb by Friedrich August Quenstedt, extensive vertebrate fossils from the collection of Friedrich von Huene, significant ammonite collections of Otto Heinrich Schindewolf, a large trace-fossil collection by Adolf Seilacher, and the microfossils of Alfred Eisenack, a schoolteacher from Reutlingen.