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Museum of Prehistory at Boxtel (NL) / Oertijdmuseum te Boxtel (NL)


Joeri_R

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Last saturday we went on excursion to Boxtel wit the Belgian Society for Paleontologie.

 

The Boxtel museum is a very interesting museum. It was founded by René Fraaije who started as a simple fossil collector like you and me. When his collection became to big he stored it in a farmers shed which he called the 'Ammonite shed' (ammoniethoeve). But eventually that became to small and after a while he founded his own museum. This museum survives of it's own and doesn't receive any fundings. 

 

In the 1800's a fossil bone was found in the ENCI quarry at Maastricht. It was send to London and because it was only one bone, the international scientific world lost interest in it. But some Dutch scientists did some research and they discovered that it's a bone from a theropod dinosaur, a tyrannosaurian. After a lot of research with many other scientists, they made a reconstruction based on that bone. And know a reconstruction of the three meters long Betasuchus bredai can be seen at the museum.

 

There are also some animated dinosaurs in the museum which are specially placed there for the children. For the adults they are a funny diversion :) 

 

In the museum there are a lot of fossils to be seen. Also some very special ammonites which show bite marks from predators or where you can see dark spots that resemble the stomach content. Also a footprint of a lizard with skinprint is shown and some urchins with pathologies. 

 

Behind the main building is the 'hall of dinosaurs' which have very impressive reconstructions of famous dinosaurs like the mandatory Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor, but also a Tarbosaurus, Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. I felt a little bit of national pride when I saw an Iguanodon bernissartensis, which is famous because a lot of them have been found in Belgium :) 

 

The garden of the museum also shows a lot of Dinosaur reconstructions. 

 

Last picture is the Betasuchus. 

 

We also visited the laboratory where they were working on a Diplodocus fossil, dup up in Wyoming between 1990 and 1996.  It was impressive to see all these volunteers working on the fossil.

 

 

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Betasuchus.jpg

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Lovely museum, I visit it on a yearly basis as it lies on the road to my girlfriend :) 
My girlfriend always jokes that I'll end up the same way as the guy who started this museum! :D 

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Interested in all things paleontology, geology, zoology, evolution, natural history and science!
Professional exotic pet keeper, huge fantasy geek, explorer of the microfossil realm, member of the BVP (Belgian Association for Paleontology), Volunteer prepper at Oertijdmuseum Boxtel.  

View my collection topic here:

The Growing Collection of Ziggycardon
My animal collection at the "Members pet" topic

Ziggycardon's exploration of the microfossil realm

Trips to Eben Emael (Maastrichtian of Belgium)

My latest fossil hunt

 

Next project will be a dedicated prepping space.

 

"A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge." - Tyrion Lannister

 

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2 hours ago, Joeri_R said:

In the 1800's a fossil bone was found in the ENCI quarry at Maastricht. It was send to London and because it was only one bone, the international scientific world lost interest in it. But some Dutch scientists did some research and they discovered that it's a bone from a theropod dinosaur, a tyrannosaurian.

A tyrannosaur bone in marine Cretaceous sediments?

Yikes! I need to look more into this - sounds very interesting :) 

-Christian

Opalised fossils are the best: a wonderful mix between paleontology and mineralogy!

 

Q. Where do dinosaurs study?

A. At Khaan Academy!...

 

My ResearchGate profile

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The museum in Boxtel is pretty interesting. It's a bit cluttered, but they have some really interesting stuff.

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Olof Moleman AKA Lord Trilobite

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On 18-2-2019 at 7:41 PM, The Amateur Paleontologist said:

A tyrannosaur bone in marine Cretaceous sediments?

Yikes! I need to look more into this - sounds very interesting :) 

-Christian

It was found by stonecutters who were cutting rock in those 'caves' for building material. It's the only bone they've found so far from this theropod. 

It's amazing what treasures might still be waiting, and that often it's 50% luck that does the trick :P 

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  • 2 years later...

I visited this museum last week and found it a very interesting place. It seems to have been updated since some of the earlier reviews. Most impressive for me was the mounted full size Quetzalcoatlus skeleton. It’s a relatively small building but packs a lot in. I was also excited to see some Burgess Shale fossils and my first time seeing an Anomalocaris specimen. Upstairs is a collection of mosasaur fragments from the region and a large number of dredged North Sea fossils. Outside are a large number of replica dinosaurs which are mostly pretty good and which make a nice walk through woods and gardens.

 

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