Ur-Werra

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As a great-Werra one is fossil deposit at the Werra between Untermaßfeld and Meiningen referred. In this section of today's Werra Valley, paleontologists recovered numerous animal fossils from the Ice Age ( Pleistocene ) in the river bed of the Ur-Werra .

history

The finds come from animals that perished in devastating floods 1.2 million to 900,000 years ago and were washed up at this point in the original Werra, where the Sülze and Jüchse tributaries flow. At the mentioned tributaries near Sülzfeld and Jüchsen, fossils from the Pliocene were also found in gravel pits in the middle of the 20th century , which come from at least 22 individuals of the simultaneously occurring proboscid species Mammut borsoni and Anancus arvernensis (mostly finds from molars). They were scientifically processed in the Meiningen museums under the direction of the physicist and teacher Minna Lang in the 1950s and partially presented from 1953. In the 1970s and 1980s, the first excavations took place in the river bed of the Ur-Werra under the paleontologist Hans-Dietrich Kahlke . His son Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke , also a paleontologist and since 2000 head of the Department for Quaternary Paleontology Weimar of the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research , continues this research to this day. So far, over 15,000 vertebrate remains of around 100 animal species have been found on an area of ​​more than 600 m². The Ur-Werra fossil deposit is therefore one of the most important sites of the Old Pleistocene in Europe. As part of a new Thuringian tourism concept, the city of Meiningen is trying to establish a permanent exhibition for the public about the location and finds in the Meiningen museums.

Selection of fossils

The mammals are here represented by 43 species, such as the hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius antiquus , the Südelefanten ( Mammuthus meridionalis ), the saber-toothed cats Megantereon cultridens adroveri and Homotherium crenatidens , the Jaguar Panthera onca gombaszoegensis , the Puma Puma Pardoides , the cheetah Acinonyx pardinensis pleistocaenicus , the Lynx Lynx issiodorensis , the hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris , the macaque Macaca sylvanus , the deer Capreolus cusanoides , the deer Eucladoceros giulii , the horse Equus wuesti , the Hundsheimer rhinoceros ( Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis ), the elk ( Alces alcesus the rodai and the bear ) Bison Bison menneri , who, with a shoulder height of 1.78 meters, is considered the largest bison of all time. The bird life often includes water birds, such as swans ( Cygnus sp.), Gray geese ( Anser sp.), As well as birds of prey ( Haliaetus sp.) And Gamebird ( Francolinus capeki ). Reptiles are rare, but include turtles ( Emydini ), leopard geckos ( Eublepharis ) and roller skinks ( Chalcides ), while real toads ( Bufo ) and real frogs ( Rana ) are represented. In addition, the remains of at least three species of fish and at least 36 species of snail were excavated .

literature

  • Ernst Probst: Germany in the Ice Age . Grin-Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-640-63481-1 .
  • Nature and Museum, Senckenberg (ed.): Leichenfeld in the Werra Valley . Volume 139, Issue 5/6, Frankfurt am Main 2009.

Web link

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke: The sequence of plio / Pleistocene mammalian faunas in Thuringia (Central Germany). Cranium 12 (1), 1995, pp. 5-18
  2. ↑ a b Meininger Tageblatt: Urviecher as new draft horses? . Edition of May 14, 2011, page 11.
  3. ↑ a b Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke: The Early Pleistocene (Epivillafranchian) faunal site of Untermaßfeld (Thuringia, Central Germany). Synthesis and results. ERAUL 92, 2000, pp. 123-138
  4. ↑ a b Ernst Probst: Germany in the Ice Age . Grin-Verlag, 2010.
  5. ^ Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke: The corpse field in the Werra valley . 2009.