Extraordinary find in Lower Franconia!
Employees made a surprising discovery in a quarry.
An expert rejoices.
Rauhenebrach - Employees of the current quarry in Rauhenebrach (Haßberge district) have discovered a 230 million year old lower jaw of a dinosaur.
The remains of the jaw were found in a one and a half ton stone block, according to a spokeswoman for the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU).
On Friday it is to be recovered and handed over to the LfU's rock collection in Hof.
Sensational find in Bavaria: experts delighted with "small sensations"
The discovered bone is more than half a meter long and has a number of pointed teeth.
It probably once belonged to a mastodonsaurus.
A recognized expert, palaeontology professor Gerd Geyer, looked at the find and identified it with a fair degree of certainty as the lower jaw of a mastodonsaurus, explains Roland Eichhorn, head of the geological service at LfU.
"It's a bit of a sensation for Bavaria," says Eichhorn happily.
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Employees discovered the find in a one and a half ton stone block.
© Gerd Geyer / dpa
This dinosaur resembles a prehistoric crocodile and a giant amphibian.
It grew four to five meters long and, like today's crocodiles, lurked in mud and pools for prey and snatched them with large fangs.
Smaller fragments of mastodonsaurs were found more frequently in Bavaria, Eichhorn said.
However, there is rarely a whole lower jaw in the Free State.
(dpa / tkip) * Merkur.de / bayern is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
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