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Unexhibited treasures from the palaeontological collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia: contemporary significant discoveries (c) NMNHS

Unexhibited treasures from the palaeontological collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia: contemporary significant discoveries

5 July 2021 18:30

The oldest museum in Bulgaria begins presenting unexhibited specimens from its scientific collections. From 5 July 2021 in the foyer of the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia you can see the exhibition #SeetheUnseen: PALEOWORLD — the first in the series “Unexhibited treasures from the palaeontological collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia: contemporary significant discoveries”.

The 13 unique fossil finds on display range from the Mesozoic era to the Holocene. Among them are palaeontological specimens of new species and genera of fossil animals described by our scientists, which are owned only by the National Museum of Natural History in Sofia.

Specimens of the first dinosaur remains discovered in our country, with original scientific illustrations by the palaeoartist and PhD student at the NMNHS, Vladimir Nikolov, are displayed in the central showcases. Fossil bones of an ostrich from Bulgaria and Euroceros bulgaricus (Bulgarian European hornbill) are exhibited next to them. In the two end showcases are displayed remains of rare and unique ancient mammals from the Paleogene to the Holocene: the earliest ruminant known from Europe — the mandible after which the Thracian bachithere was described, the first find of the Miocene monkey Mesopithecus from Bulgaria, a tooth of a rare mastodon, a skull of a young Hippotherium brachypus, mandible fragments from the ancient artiodactyle Dorcatherium, skull of a newly described genus and species of cheetah-like cat, antler from an extinct autochthonous population of fallow deer, remains of a previously unknown subspecies of European bison, a complete skeleton of a buried Iron Age dog, and bones from a hare foot pierced for an amulet.

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