Media

An HKU Stephen Hui Geological Museum exhibition to launch on Earth Day:
Snapshots of a Vanished Environment – Exceptional Fossils
from the world famous Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone in Germany

19 Apr 2016

The Stephen Hui Geological Museum of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will launch a two-month exhibition on “Snapshots of a Vanished Environment - Exceptional Fossils from the world famous Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone in Germany” on Earth Day, April 22, and will run until June 23, 2016.  

The earth’s fossil record is incomplete and only an estimate of around 15% of organisms that ever lived on earth are preserved as fossils. Occasionally, the fossil record presents us with surprises when very rare and specific environmental conditions allow extraordinary preservation of a high concentration and diversity of fossils in so called Fossil Lagerstaetten that represent an ancient in-situ ecological community. Such fossil sites comprise the most important portions of the fossil record for our understanding of the evolution of life and environmental changes throughout the Earth’s history.

One of the world’s most famous Fossil Lagerstaette is the Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone in Germany which came to fame with the discovery of a number of complete Archaeopteryx fossils. This exhibition presents 11 rare and exceptionally preserved fossil animals from the 150 million year old Solnhofen Limestone, some up to 90 centimetres in diameter. It gives a glimpse into the environmental challenges these organisms faced 150 million years ago when entering an isolated lagoon under a warm and tropical Jurassic climate, which today is preserved in the limestones around the town Solnhofen in southern Germany.

The fossils on display in this exhibition are ancestors of today’s fishes, shrimp, crabs, squid and lobster -- all organisms people can relate to as the modern forms of these prehistoric animals are today part of our daily lifestyles. A horseshoe crab with its preserved death trail is also one of the highlights in this exhibition.

The exhibition also tries to remind us about the new environmental challenges the modern descendants of these ancient ancestors face in today’s world where their survival is now threatened by human activities after millions of years of successful adaptation to natural environmental changes.

The Stephen Hui Geological Museum acknowledges Dr. Martin Goerlich who kindly provided the fossils for this special exhibition.

Visitors may also visit parts of the museum’s permanent Earth Evolution gallery where fossils from three Fossil Lagerstaettens in China are on display: the Cambrian Chengjiang Biota, the Cretaceous Jehol Biota and the Tertiary Shanwang Biota.

Members of the media are cordially invited to a media tour before the launch of the exhibition. Details as below:

Date: April 21, 2016 (this Thursday, the day before the Earth Day)

Time: 11:00 am to 12:00noon

Venue: Stephen Hui Geological Museum, G/F, James Lee Science Building, HKU (Map)

Speakers:
Dr. Petra Bach, Curator of the Stephen Hui Geological Museum, HKU

Dr. Haz Cheung Man-ching, Assistant Curator, Stephen Hui Geological Museum, HKU

Media enquiries:

HKU Communications & Public Affairs Office Ms Rhea Leung (Tel: 2857 8555 / 9022 7446/ Email: rhea.leung@hku.hk ) or

HKU Stephen Hui Geological Museum Dr Haz Cheung  (Tel: 2241 5472/ Email: hmcc@hku.hk)