THE TANZANIA'S DINOSAUR FOSSILS DISPLAYED IN HUMBOLDT MUSEUM IN BERLIN GERMANY

The fossils collected by expeditions to what was then German East Africa (Tendaguru), include the Brachiosaur specimen on show at the Humboldt Museum in Berlin.  This exhibit first went on display in 1937 and has been the centre piece of the museum’s dinosaur collection ever since.  The skeleton at 22 metres long and standing 13 metres tall, is one of the largest mounted dinosaur fossils on permanent exhibit anywhere in the world.  This particular Brachiosaurus is actually a composite of at least 5 individuals found at the Tendaguru site.  In total, the German expeditions between 1909 and 1912 brought back the remains of 34 Brachiosaurs, as well as fossils of other spectacular late Jurassic dinosaurs.

 It was the German palaeontologist Werner Janensch who led the expeditions, an attempt to demonstrate German imperial ambitions in Africa and compete with the dinosaur discoveries of North America.

Talks are also underway between Tanzania and German on how the remains of a Tendaguru dinosaur which have been preserved in Germany since the colonial period can also benefit Tanzania.