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Messel Pit Fossil Site Germany

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The Messel Fossil Pit

This German site has the world’s best collection of fossils from 50 million years ago – a fascinating period when mammals were just emerging on the planet.

Written by Michael Turtle

Michael Turtle is the founder of Time Travel Turtle. A journalist for more than 20 years, he's been travelling the world since 2011.

Michael Turtle is the founder of Time Travel Turtle and has been travelling full time for a decade.

Updated: October 10, 2023

Messel Pit Fossil Site, Messel, Germany

Sometimes I end up at a World Heritage Site that was created a couple of thousand years old and I’m impressed by how old it is. And then there are ones that are just impossible to get my mind around.

The Messel Fossil Pit in Germany is one of them. It was formed about 47 million years ago, during an era of time known as the ‘Eocene Period’.

Most of the planet’s continents were still connected and were just beginning to drift away into their current positions. The first modern mammals were only just emerging and most of the animal species that existed are now extinct in that form.

It goes without saying, this was a very different world.

The best insight into this period of the planet’s development is at the Messel Pit, about 35 kilometres southeast of Frankfurt.

Back in those days, this area would have been a lakebed attracting a wide variety of animals. Over time, mud and dead vegetation formed the oil shale that now makes up the primary rock at the site.

Tens of thousands of animals that died here were preserved in this oil shale as fossils.

More than 40,000 fossils have been discovered here to date with many more still to be uncovered. The early mammals are the most important specimens because these discoveries give a unique insight into their evolution.

There have been about 30 complete skeletons found over the years. There have also been more than 100 plant species, 8 types of fish, 31 types of reptiles and more than 50 bird species also uncovered.

This extremely important site has faced some threats from humans over recent centuries – either because the significance wasn’t realised or because economic progress was more important.

In the 1800s, humans began mining here and the area was used as a quarry for more than a century. When this stopped because it was becoming uneconomical, the plan in the 1970s was then to create a location for landfill.

Luckily this was stopped because of pressure from locals who could see the significance for research. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1995.

Visiting the Messel Fossil Pit

Visiting the Messel Fossil Pit is a little bit tricky because, in some ways, there’s not a lot to see. Most of the important stuff – the fossils – has either been taken away or is still underground, waiting to be discovered.

But it is still worth going because you do get good access to the site.

It’s possible to go on a guided tour into the pit area where you can see the oil shale and the hole in the ground where a lot of the work is happening. In the warmer months, there are usually researchers on the site digging through the rocks to find fossils and you can watch them work.

There are also some fossils or replicas that are on the site to see and touch, which gives you a good sense of what the scientists are looking for here.

It’s estimated there are tens of thousands more fossils to find here so you may be lucky enough to witness a big discovery.

A lot of thought has also gone into the modern museum on the site and it’s an excellent place to visit. There are comprehensive exhibits about the formation of the pit and the process of exploration.

There is also a collection of significant fossils that have been found here. It’s incredible to see how well preserved they are, considering they have been underground for up to 50 million years.

This is a little snapshot of time frozen forever and the Messel Fossil Pit is your window into it.

Where is the Messel Fossil Pit?

The Messel Pit Fossil Site is located at Roßdörfer Straße 108, 64409, Messel, Germany. You can see it on a map here .

How do you get to the Messel Fossil Pit?

To get to the fossil pit site, catch the train to Messel. From there, it is about a 30 minute walk or you can catch any bus that comes past the station in the direction of the site.

When is the Messel Fossil Pit open?

The Messel Pit Visitor Centre is open every day from 1000 – 1700

How much does it cost to visit the Messel Fossil Pit?

Admission to the Visitor Centre is €10 for an adult and €8 for a concession.

You can find out more information here about the Messel Pit Fossil Site .” id=6]

Time Travel Turtle was supported by DB Bahn , the German National Tourist Board and Youth Hostels in Germany but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.

This site is on the UNESCO World Heritage List ! I'm on a mission to visit as many World Heritage Sites as I can. Only about 800 more to go... eek!

3 thoughts on “The Messel Fossil Pit”

About 5 years ago, man’s oldest ancestor was found at the Messel Pit. She’s 47 million years old, and lives at the Natural History Museum here in Oslo: a Darwinius masillae – or more affectionately known as Ida.

I know what you mean about struggling tog get your head around the age of something like this. I had the same problem at Riversleigh Fossil site in Queensland. It’s just so old!!

Crazy how old it is! Wonder what else is yet to be found there! Thanks for sharing!

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Messel Pit Fossil Site

The Messel Fossil Site (German: Grube Messel) is an abandoned oil shale open-cast quarry situated approximately 9 km northeast of Darmstadt, exposing bituminous clay stones (‘oil shale’) across an area of about 40 hectares. The oil shale was deposited at the bottom of a volcanic lake during the middle Eocene epoch, about 48 million years ago. Messel represents a unique archive in Earth’s history and is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1995.

The range of Messel fossils are unique; particularly in their faunal and floral diversity and preservation quality. For instance, plant fossils have been found with intact flowers and fruits, or insects still showing iridescent colours. Further finds include ancient and modern bony fish, frogs and frog spawn, tortoises, lizards, crocodiles, and snakes. Bird fossils range between hummingbirds to specimens almost two metres in size. Further findings include spectacular mammals, from primitive marsupials and bats to prosimian primates and anteaters. Finally, the most famous Messel fossils: relatives of today’s horses.

Due to the near-perfect conditions during fossilization, Messel specimens often hold microscopic details including preserved skin structures, hair, feathers, or even the stomach content. Considering that in most fossil sites only teeth or fragments of jawbones of vertebrates are commonly preserved, Messel offers tremendous opportunities for paleontological research. Here, plants and animals can be studied in their coexistence, allowing to reconstruct their ‘place’ within a snapshot of a prehistoric ecosystem.

The exhibition attempts to capture the entire Messel species spectrum in its beauty and breadth. In addition, it conveys impressions of the former habitat as well as important information about the origin of this unique fossil deposit. Thus, the exhibition offers the opportunity to understand how an ecosystem functioned during this extraordinary time. According to current climate models, large parts of the Earth could experience conditions similar to those in the Eocene in the next two centuries.

Prof. Dr. Torsten Wappler

Tel.: +49 (0) 6151 3601-261

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Messel Pit Fossil Site

EXPLORE the Messel Pit Fossil Site with this slideshow, check the location map and get all the facts and information below.

Location and Values:  The Messel Pit Fossil Site is located about 30 km south of Frankfurt, near the German town of Darmstadt. It was an old oil shale mine where remarkable fossil discoveries have been made. It is now recognized as the single best fossil site in the world covering the middle Eocene (47-48 million years ago), the period when the first modern mammals were evolving. In particular the site has yielded some exceptionally well-preserved mammal fossils that not only include fully articulated skeletons, but also perfectly preserved skin, hair and stomach contents. Important scientific discoveries have been made on the evolution of echolocation through detailed examination of around 600 exceptionally well-preserved fossil bats, while the discovery of about 60 skeletons of an early ‘horse’ (Eurohippus messelensis) and an early primate (Darwinius masillae) has contributed to our understanding of evolution in these important groups of mammals. Well-preserved fossils of over 1000 species of plants, birds, reptiles, insects and other animals has allowed a detailed understanding of the living environment of the Eocene.

Conservation Status and Prospects.   According to IUCN’s Conservation Outlook Assessment (2017) the conservation status of the Messel Pit Fossil Site is ‘good’. The IUCN report notes that the World Heritage values of the site are well maintained with suitable arrangements for protection and management. Although much material has been removed from the site during a century of mining activity, the remaining volume of fossil-bearing oil shale sediments is massive and present scientific work is having no significant impact on preservation of the site’s potential to yield further important discoveries.

Links: Google Earth UNESCO Official Website IUCN Conservation Outlook UNEP-WCMC Site Description

Slideshow description

The slideshow ‘tells the story’ of the Messel Pit Fossil Site with a portfolio of photos by Peter Howard from a visit in June 2019. They start at the impressive visitor centre, where there is a series of exhibition rooms explaining the origins of the site, the special conditions that allowed fossils to be preserved in such exceptional detail, its mining history, the scientific discoveries arising from examination of the site’s fossils, and specimens/reproductions of some of the key fossils discovered here.

Messel Pit originated in ancient times as a maar volcano, with a very deep lake in its crater. The deep waters were calm and the lack of circulation meant that the bottom of the lake was depleted of oxygen, so the normal processes of decomposition did not occur. When an animal fell into the water and sank to the bottom, instead of decomposing it was slowly covered in layers of dead unicellular blue-green algae that flourished near the surface of the lake. Over the millennia this resulted in layer upon layer of deposits which eventually became the deep oil shale that fills the site of the old volcanic crater today.

The slideshow features some of the fossil exhibits in the visitor including a fish, bats, several ‘early horses’ (Eurohippus messelensis), a crocodilian, a turtle, a primate (Darwinius masillae), a lizard and a bird’s feather. These illustrate the diversity and quality of the exceptional fossils discovered at the Messel Pit. Access to the quarry pit is only allowed as part of a guided tour. I was privileged to enjoy an individual tour, and the last part of the slideshow covers this part of the visit. There is a viewing platform with exhibition panels in an elevated location on the edge of the quarry from where visitors can get an idea of the scale of the mining operation that took place here. Descending into the ‘crater’ visitors are able to view the small excavation site where scientists cut ‘vertical slices’ of shale for detailed examination. The shale extracted here is moist and delicate, and any fossils that are discovered have to be kept in water to maintain them in the short term. Near the scientists’ area of operation the guided tour includes an opportunity to examine some ‘fresh’ fossil finds, including small fish and shiny insects, as well as a life-size model of the site’s renowned ‘early horse’, and a poster display of the site’s most remarkable early primate.

Website Categories: Fossil Record ;

Area:  0.4 km 2

Inscribed:  1995

• Fossil record (viii);

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You may also like to explore these other featured sites:-, chengjiang fossil site, dinosaur provincial park, lake turkana national parks, miguasha national park, wadi al-hitan (whale valley).

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Evotourism ®

A Smithsonian magazine special report

The Evolutionary Secrets Within the Messel Pit

An amazing abundance of fossils in a bygone lake in Germany hints at the debt humans owe to animals that died out 48 million years ago

Andrew Curry

In the middle of a forest about 20 minutes from the city of Darmstadt in central Germany is a decommissioned strip mine half a mile wide. Today scrubby bushes cover the bottom, where dirt paths wind past rainwater ponds filled with bright-green algae. A gaping 200-foot-deep gouge in the forested countryside, the Messel Pit doesn’t at first glance seem worth preserving, never mind visiting, but since 1995 it has been a Unesco World Heritage site, thanks to a series of unfortunate events beginning some 48 million years ago.

The world was a very different place then, during the period known to scientists as the Eocene. The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were higher than today (at least, for the time being), producing a greenhouse effect of soaring temperatures. In the Arctic, giant crocodilians swam in warm waters among the ferns. A tropical rainforest covered Antarctica. The shapes of the continents would be mostly recognizable, though India was still on the collision course with Asia that would form the Himalayas. Sea levels were about 150 feet higher than today, so Europe wasn’t a largely continuous landmass but a vast archipelago.

The spot now occupied by the new, conspicuously sleek, concrete and glass Messel Pit visitor center—which includes a trip back in time through a virtual borehole—was, in the Eocene, near a deep lake that at its peak was around two miles across. The lake became a deathtrap for countless animals, and geochemistry in concert with millions of years of accumulating plant and mineral sediments would preserve features of the sunken carcasses to an astonishing degree.

Decaying animal and vegetable material buried and squeezed under tremendous pressure over millions of years yields, every school kid knows, fossil fuel, in this instance primarily oil shale—layers of soft gray stone impregnated with oil. Those deposits attracted miners from the late 1800s to the 1970s, when the open-pit mine closed down and was forgotten by all but a small group of people bent on extracting not the fuel but the fossils.

Word of amazing finds spread fast. And aside from a perhaps understandable bout of civic shortsightedness when the local government considered turning the giant hole in the ground into a garbage dump—a proposal that paleontologists and others sharply opposed for 20 years, prevailing in 1992—the site has been cherished as the greatest fossil trove of its kind. “Everyone in vertebrate paleontology knows Messel,” says Johns Hopkins University paleontologist Ken Rose. “There’s really no place in the world that compares. A great deal of what we know from that time period is from there.”

The Eocene, from 56 million to 34 million years ago, was a crucial turning point in the history of life on Earth, a time to which we ourselves owe a considerable debt, for that’s when mammals came into their own and evolved to occupy the ecological niches vacated by the extinction of the dinosaurs. At Messel Pit, mammal skeletons galore are preserved intact, often with the outlines of fur and flesh still visible in the surrounding rock. Primitive opossums, horses the size of fox terriers, an anteater, eight bat species and a lemur-like primate that could be an early branch on humanity’s family tree—these and many more fossils provide glimpses of the distant ancestors of species we know today.

While paleontologists often frown at the prospect of visitors tromping around their digs, Messel Pit, which is run by the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt, is open to the public for guided tours. One fall day I follow geologist Marie-Luise Frey from the $6.5 million visitor center, opened in 2010, to the bottom of the pit. She leads me off the paved path onto the gentle slope of a recently closed excavation. Flakes of dried-out oil shale crunch under my boots. A sharp corner reveals where paleontologists cut through layers of shale with a chain saw, removing large blocks before carefully prying them apart to look for hidden fossils.

The edges of the excavation resemble the pages of a burned book. Even today, the oil shale is mostly water. As it dries, Frey explains in German, the oil shale turns as flaky as phyllo dough and eventually crumbles to dust. I’m trying to imagine the place as it was before, but the chill fall air, the turning leaves, the rumble of machinery at a nearby gravel plant aren’t helping me put myself in a jungle 48 million years ago.

I notice some suspiciously round pebbles and pick one up. It’s about the size of a praline. “ Das ist ein Koprolith ,” Frey tells me brightly—a “coprolite,” paleontologist-speak for a chunk of fossilized poop. This one was likely produced by a very big fish, she says: “You can still tell what they ate by examining them.” I follow Frey farther into the pit, eager to understand how this place came to be.

At some point around 50 million years ago, underground water came into contact with a vein of molten rock. High-pressure steam erupted, forming a crater with steep sides. As water seeped in, it created a lake shaped more like a drinking glass than a soup bowl. Any animal that fell in sank quickly to the bottom.

Still, that alone doesn’t explain why so many land mammals—not to mention birds, bats and insects—perished here. One theory is that carbon dioxide periodically bubbled up from deep beneath the lake bottom, smothering animals near the shore. Another possibility is that some of the summer algae blooms were toxic, poisoning animals that had chosen the wrong time and place to slake their thirst. Or perhaps smaller animals died nearby and were washed in by small floods or rushing streams.

The lake was so deep that oxygen didn’t circulate near the bottom, which meant that there were no bottom feeders around to consume the dead and dying animals. Year after year, algae scumming the lake surface bloomed and died, and so layers of fine clay and dead micro-organisms drifted to the bottom. Each layer was as thick as a strand of hair. It took 250 years to build up an inch of mud. Over millions and millions of years, plants and animals were preserved like flowers pressed between the pages of a book, and the algae and other organic matter turned into oil shale.

Among the thousands of fossils that paleontologists have recovered at Messel Pit are specimens representing nearly 45 different mammal species. Those finds are critical to understanding how warmblooded creatures evolved. Mammals and dinosaurs appeared at nearly the same time around 200 million years ago. But dinosaurs were so well suited to the environment that they crowded out any competition. Mammals lived on the margins, mostly tiny creatures eking out a living by eating insects under the cover of darkness. “They just tried to stay out of the way,” says Thomas Lehmann, a Senckenberg Research Institute paleontologist. And so it went for nearly 150 million years.

Then, in an instant, everything changed, apparently when an asteroid or comet struck Earth 66 million years ago and dramatically altered the climate, eventually wiping out the giant reptiles. The diversity of species found among the Messel Pit fossils reveals that mammals rushed to fill every empty ecological nook and cranny they could find. “They really tried everything—flying, jumping, running, tree-dwelling, ant-eating,” says Lehmann. “From the point of view of evolution, Messel is a fantastic laboratory to see what life might have given us.”

Might have, but in many cases didn’t. Messel’s most fascinating specimens may be those species that have no living relatives, though they look jarringly familiar. In the visitor center, kids crowd around to watch as a conservator armed with toothbrushes, dental picks and scalpels cleans layers of oil shale away from a fossil unearthed just a few weeks earlier. To me, the skeleton of Ailuravus macrurus looks like that of a giant squirrel. It’s three feet long, including its bushy tail. Near the ribs a black stain traces the creature’s fossilized digestive tract. Despite its tail, Ailuravus is no squirrel ancestor. It’s an evolutionary dead end; Ailuravus and all of its relatives died out more than 37 million years ago. Why? Maybe they fell victim to climate changes, or a better-adapted competitor, or disappearing food sources, or simple bad luck.

Ailuravus ’ resemblance to a modern squirrel is an example of evolutionary convergence. Given enough time, adaptations may lead to nearly identical solutions—bushy tails, say, or powerful, kangaroo-like hind legs—popping up in different species. “It’s like using the same Legos to build different forms,” says Lehmann.

And there are forms aplenty at the Messel Pit. The exquisitely preserved fossils have provided paleontologists with unprecedented insights into the adaptive strategies­—some successful, others not—adopted by mammals for feeding, movement and even reproduction. For instance, the contents of the tiny prehistoric horse’s stomach—fossilized leaves and grape seeds—indicate that the animal was not a grazer but a browser, eating what it found on the forest floor. The paleontologists also found eight fossilized specimens of pregnant mares, each carrying a single foal. That discovery suggests that the early horses had already adopted herd behavior, since joint care would be the best way to guarantee the survival of small numbers of offspring.

Such findings make the place feel less like a graveyard than a time capsule encompassing a 48 million-year-old ecosystem. “It’s not only paleontology, it’s biology,” says Jens Lorenz Franzen, a retired paleontologist who worked at the Senckenberg Research Institute and helped excavate some of Messel’s most remarkable finds. “We can reconstruct the living world of that era.” 

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Andrew Curry | | READ MORE

Andrew Curry is a Berlin-based journalist who writes about science and history for a variety of publications, including National Geographic , Nature , and Wired . He is a contributing editor at Archaeology and has visited archaeological excavations on five continents. (Photo Credit: Jennifer Porto)

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Messel Pit Fossil Site

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

• Sun - Sat 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
• (0.50 mi) Charlottenhof Restaurant-Hotel-Biergarten
• (8.96 mi) Hotel Jakob
• (6.05 mi) H+ Hotel Darmstadt
• (5.11 mi) Welcome Hotel Darmstadt City Center
• (5.53 mi) Best Western Hotel Darmstadt Mitte
• (0.50 mi) Schnecken-Schröder
• (0.50 mi) Charlottenhof
• (2.87 mi) Die Sattlerei - beef & more
• (5.26 mi) Harouns
• (4.57 mi) Shiraz

• +49(0) 1713090207
• [email protected]​
• Opening hours: Saturday, Sunday & Holiday 11 - 17 Uhr · Free entrance

Treasures in the oil shale, the fossils

Fossils are being unearthed from the sediments of a 48-million-year-old lake – a bituminous argillaceous rock called “oil shale” – which are in an excellent state of preservation. The Messel Fossil and Local History Museum has a large collection of animal and plant fossils from the Messel Pit, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and thus provides information about life in that age. Explanations are attached to the showcases and can be heard via the audio guide.

We owe many of the fossils and casts to the amateur paleontologists who searched for fossils in the pit in the early 1970s.

The research on the fossils is highly topical: At that time, Messel had environmental conditions that we will have in 50 years if we do not slow down climate change.

1220 years of farmers and workers in Messel - local and industrial history

Messel was first mentioned in a document in the year 800 and was characterized by farming for centuries. Beginning in the 19th century, the sediments of the lake, which was formed 48 million years ago, were used industrially: in the cell walls of the dead algae in the lake, hydrocarbons were present as kerogens, from which mineral oil products could be manufactured. At that time, large industrial plants dominated the Messel Pit district. The plant with up to 800 employees gave the region bread and work for almost 100 years. In the 19th century, the hunger for raw materials pushed clever engineers to build highly effective systems. In the 20th century, they supported those in power who were striving for self-sufficiency.

Fight against a landfill - a citizens' initiative

How it all began - the history of our earth

Take something with you - Our museum shop

In close cooperation with:.

Senckenberg foundation

Landesmuseum darmstadt, naturwissenschaftlicher verein darmstadt e.v, grube messel.

Fossilien- und Heimatmuseum

Langgasse 2

64409 Messel

Deutschland

Wichtige Links

• Exhibitions
• Permanent Exhibitions

Permanent exhibition

Fossil site of worldwide renown and a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

The so-called “oil shale” of the Messel Pit near Darmstadt contains particularly well-preserved fossils that offer unique insights into the European fauna and flora 48 million years ago.

The “oil shale” consists of solidified sludge that was deposited at the bottom of an oxygen-poor lake. The water was still, allowing everything that sank down in the lake to be covered by fine sediments without being damaged. Due to the poor mixing of the water layers and the resulting lack of oxygen that prevented the decomposition of the dead organisms that sank to the bottom, many details such as the stomach content or soft parts of vertebrates, tiny scales from butterfly wings, and plant cells were preserved. 48 million years ago, the area was dominated by a tropical climate, and the lake was even inhabited by crocodiles, along with numerous fish species. Many fossils of insects, bats, and birds that lived in the adjacent tropical rain forest have already been discovered here. This forest was also home to prehistoric horses that had toes with small hooves and fed on leaves and fruits.

Opening hours

Monday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Tuesday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Wednesday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm Thursday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm Friday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm  Saturday, Sunday, and holidays 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Special opening hours of Aha?! Science Lab :

Monday: Closed Tuesday: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm  Wednesday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm  Thursday: 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm  Friday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm  Saturday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm  Sunday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm  Holiday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm 

Special opening hours

Shrove Tuesday closed from 13:00. Good Friday, December 24, December 31, January 1 closed.

  Bitte beachten Sie auch die temporären Sperrungen im Museum bei der Planung Ihres Besuchs.

Eintrittspreise

MESSEL PIT FOSSIL SITE

Messel Pit is the richest site in the world for understanding the living environment of the Eocene of 48 million years ago. It provides unique information about the early stages of the evolution of mammals including a herd of primitive horses and includes exceptionally well-preserved fossils from fully articulated skeletons to hair, feathers, wing membranes and stomach contents.

Messel Pit Fossil Site

NATURAL WORLD HERITAGE SITE

1995: Inscribed on the World Heritage List under Natural Criterion viii.

STATEMENT OF OUTSTANDING UNIVERSAL VALUE [pending]

Iucn management category.

Not applicable

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL PROVINCE

Middle European Forest (2.11.05)

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

Located in the northern foothills of the Odenwald, 35 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main, near Darmstadt at 8°46' E by 49°55' N.

DATES AND HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT

1884-1971: The site was actively mined for bituminous oil shale;

1875: Discovery of a fossil crocodile; 1919: Formal excavation began;

1966-1975: Systematic excavations carried out to pre-empt amateurs digging for profit;

1991: The Hessian government bought the site for scientific use to replace a proposed refuse dump: it was designated a cultural monument under the Hessian Heritage Protection Act of 1974;

1992: Declared a public monument under two Agreements: the Conduct of Palaeontological Excavations in Messel Pit with the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, and the Scientific and Cultural Use of the Messel Pit Fossil Site with the Society for the Preservation of the Messel Pit Fossil Site.

LAND TENURE

Public: the property of Land Hesse in Darmstadt Administrative District.

~\~~ 200m at ground level. The pit is 60m deep.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

The pit is a former open-cast bituminous oil-shale mine approximately 1,000m north-south by 700m east-west, now 60m deep, though the accompanying sediments extend some 120-130m deeper. The site is the remains of 48 million year old Middle Eocene lakebed sediments (the Messel formation) which lie over 270-290 million-year old Permian Old Red Sandstone. The lake basin, small but deep, formed in a granite fault-bounded graben following tectonic activity. Over a long period the accumulation under anoxic conditions of lakebed muds, clays, dead vegetation and algae slowly subsided, and immense deposits were laid down which became shale. The slow subsidence and lack of bioturbation preserved the fossil layers over millennia; by contrast, the watercourses that fed the lake were completely eroded. Only part of the structure is stratigraphically intact with the strata in chronological sequence; outcrops of older Eocene seams found on the slopes of the pit are partly distorted by landslides.

The great richness of the deposits, which started life in a dense subtropical jungle, may be due to stratification of the water column which left the ooze on the lake bottom little disturbed and anoxic. Corpses sank, undisturbed by scavengers. Seasonal overturn of this water, local volcanic activity or intermitent earth movements, may have periodically released gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide and ammonia into the lake and the surrounding atmosphere, killing any organisms in and around it which were then preserved in unusually good condition by the very slow rate of deposition. This could account for the many non-aquatic fossils found such as of bats, birds and terrestrial animals (Riley, 2003). Today parts of the pit slopes are forested. In its eastern section there is a small lake (Mayer, 1994). It is bounded by a railway line to the north, industrial and commercial estates to the south and west and forestry land to the east.

The Eocene Lake Messel lay 10 degrees south of its present latitude when it had a subtropical climate (Schaal & Ziegler, 1992). The present climate at ground level is temperate.

Eocene Lake Messel was surrounded by dense subtropical rainforest, shown by the preserved plant material, including palm leaves, fruits, wood, pollen and some water plants. The presence in millions of the green algae Tetraedron minimum and Botryococcus sp. during seasonal blooms, consumed much of the lake’s oxygen and the decay resulted in a rich production of oil (Riley, 2003). Over 31 types of plant fossils have been identified although most are described only at the family level: club mosses Selaginellaceae, royal fern Osmundaceae, curly grass fern Schizaeaceae, cypress Cupressaceae, plum yew Cephalotaxaceae, swamp cypress Taxodiaceae, walnut Juglandacea, water lilies Nymphaeaceae and grapevine Vitaceae.

The first animal remains discovered were those of a crocodile in 1875. By 2004 subsequent excavations have led to the identification of 132 vertebrate species including ten extinct orders (Morlo et al, 2004). Most are insects and fishes, mammals making up only 2% of the faunal remains. But the best known fossils are those of the primeval Messel pygmy horses Propalaeotherium parvulum 30-35 cm high and P. hassiacum 55-60cm high, of which over 70 have been found including pregnant mares and foals. Overall, the deposits partly due to the action of bacterial imprintation, have preserved even the hair, feathers, ‘skin shadows’, wing membranes, stomach and intestinal contents of some species and even insect scale colouring, providing evidence for the feeding habits, ecology and environment of the Eocene flora and fauna (Schaal & Ziegler, 1992; Riley, 2003).

The mammal fauna totals 45 species (Storch, 2004). It includes 4 marsupial opossums such as Peradectes sp. and Amphiperatherium spp.; 3 hedgehog-like omnivores Macrocranion tenerum ; M. tupaiodon ; and scaly-tailed Pholidocercus hassiacus; 8 bats, one the large Archaeonycteris pollex ; and another, Tachypteron franzeni which resembled the present-day Taphosus. 3 lemur-like primates Europolemur kelleri ; E. koenigswaldi ; and a lemur-like monkey Godinotia neglecta; the unique scaleless anteater-like pangolin Eurotamandua joresi; 2 primitive pangolins: Eomanis krebsi ; and E. waldi; 4 rodents, one the large Ailuravus macrurus; 2 carnivores: the arboreal fossa-like Paroodectes feisti ; and Messelogale kessleri, 5 species of odd-toed ungulates: the horse-like Hallensia matthesi ; a primeval tapir Hyrachyus minimus , the primitive leaf-eating horses Propaeleotherium hassiacum , P. parvulum and the bulky now extinct Lophiodon; and 3 even-toed ungulates, an early tapir Masillabune martini ; Messelobunodon schaeferi and Aumelasia cf. gabineaadi (Morlo et al ., 2004).

Bird fossils are abundant: 43 species in 23 families have been found. Preservation is extremely good, with bacteria mapping even single barbules on feathers. Feather pigmentation is also possibly preserved in a specimen of Araeotrogoridae. Since in the Eocene epoch there were no large predatory mammals large birds took their place (Riley, 2003). At the top of the food chain was the giant flightless bird Diatryma. There were also a proto-ostrich Palaeotis weigelti , the Messel rail Messelornis cristata a sun-bittern relative which formed 60% of the bird fossils, the flamingo-like Juncitarsus merkeli , a primitive falcon, Massillaraptor, owl-like Messelasturidae and Palaeoglaux sp., a freshwater booby Masillastega, the crane-like Idiornis, swift-like Aegialornis szarskii, an early humming bird Paragornis, hoopoe-like Messelirrisor and birds resembling parrots, woodpeckers, rollers, mousebirds and frogmouths.

31 species of reptiles in 12 families have been found, including 7 crocodiles, 3 being aquatic: the large Asiatosuchus and Allognathosuchus and an alligator Diplocynodon; also 20 snake, lizard, monitor and skink species and 5 turtles. Amphibians of 5 species in 4 families included frogs and salamanders. Many specimens are whole and articulated compared with the many broken specimens from other Tertiary fossil localities, because the deep bottom was so undisturbed.

Over 10,000 fossil fishes of 8 species in 6 families have been found at Messel, a hundred times the numbers of birds and reptiles, mostly from high in the water which indicates that the water column was stratified. All the species are so-called Osteichthyes, where the skeleton is partly composed of true bone. These include ray-finned fish Actinopterygii, ‘new-finned’ fish Neopterygii, Messel garfish Atractosteus strausi , Messel bowfin Cyclurus kehreri , archaic knife-fish Thaumaturus intermedius , Messel eel Anguilla ignota , high-backed predatory Messel perch Amphiperca multiformes , and double-finned Messel perch Palaeoperca proxima .

The thousands of aquatic and terrestrial insects are the most numerous invertebrates found on site, several specimens having very well preserved structure and metallic colouring (the cuticle colour coming from refracted light not organic pigments). Flying insects are superabundant probably having been like the bats and birds poisoned by the atmosphere over the lake. A notable insect was the 5.5cm Messel giant ant Formicium giganteum with a wingspan of 13cm. The most frequent finds are beetles: click beetles Elateridae (15.8%), weevil Curculionidae (12.8%), jewel beetles Buprestidae (8.4%), dung beetles Scarabaeidae (3.9%), stag beetles Lucanidae (1.7%), ground beetles Carabidae (1.4%), water beetles Dascillidae (1.4%), longhorn beetles Cerambycidae (0.5%), and rove beetles Staphylinidae (0.26%).

CONSERVATION VALUE

Messel is the only major site to provide evidence of such unmatched quality of the explosive evolution of mammals in the Eocene. It is an essential conservation Lagerstatte (storage site) of exceptional fossils. Its complete skeletons of many middle Eocene species plus fragile structures in great detail, are unique in their diversity, types and quality and quantity of preservation. The site has provided thousands of fossil specimens and identifications of carnivores, fish, birds, insects, vascular plants, bacteria and organic molecular structures; and also documentation of their environment. These provide many clues for research concerning palaeontological and palaeoecological methods, and enable palaeobiological processes to be reconstructed (Mayer, 1994).

CULTURAL HERITAGE

The pit’s oil shale as a historical mineral resource is considered part of the cultural heritage of Hesse, as defined in the Hessian Heritage Protection Act (Mayer, 1994).

LOCAL HUMAN POPULATION

No-one lives in the pit but it is bordered by industrial and commercial land uses.

VISITOR AND VISITOR FACILITIES

The Cultural Advisory Council manages the public presentation of the site and runs guided tours. There is a viewing platform at the edge of the pit with information displays to explain the significance of the site to visitors but there is no nearby exhibition for lack of parking. Entrance to the pit is by pre-arranged tour. However, there are three museums in the region: the Messel Museum of Fossils and Local History in the town, the Hessian Regional Museum in Darmstadt and the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History in Frankfurt, all of which have information and permanent exhibits on the Messel site discoveries.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND FACILITIES

Although the first sample was identified in 1875, the first formal agreement to recover salvage finds between the Regional Museum in Darmstadt and the mining company was in 1912. Formal excavations started in 1919. Systematic excavations took place in 1966, 1971, and periodically to the end of 1974. Before the use of modern methods in the 1960s, preservation and examination of the fossils was difficult because they disintegrated on exposure. In 1974, the frequency of fossil finds increased and the high prices paid for rare finds led to invasion of the pit by private excavators and fossil merchants. By 1975, under the threat of the use of the area as a refuse dump, the Senckenberg Natural History Museum and Research Institute was granted permission to join the Hessian Regional Museum in excavating and salvaging finds and the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research bought a building close to the Pit as a field research station. Excavations are kept within the framework prescribed for archaeological properties by the 1989 Charter for the Protection and Management of the Archaeological Heritage. Thousands of fossils are now preserved in the Senckenberg Museum. In addition to the wealth of complete and detailed fossils of organic life forms, complex chemical compounds found in the oil shale preserved unaltered in the rock as ‘chemical fossils’ provide many clues for palaeontological and palaeoecological research, and enable palaeobiological processes to be reconstructed (Mayer, 1994).

Since 1975 a number of scientific research projects have been initiated, recorded in Schaal & Ziegler, (1992) and Mayer (1994). Other institutions have obtained permission to excavate and conduct research: the Natural History Museum Dortmund, the Institute for Geology and Palaeontology, University of Hamburg, in 1975, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, 1976, the Regional Natural History Collection, Karlsruhe, 1979, the Belgian Royal Institute of Natural Sciences in 1983, and the University of Tubingen Institute for Geology and Palaeontology in 1987. In 1991, the second International Messel Symposium was held at Darmstadt with over 100 participants from 21 countries (Schaal & Ziegler, 1992). In 2001 the fossil site acquired a private collection of very rare Messel fossils, including the primeval anteater, tapir and horse fossils, which travelled the country in 2007.

Responsibility for the care, preservation, and operation of the site was assigned to the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research on 1 July 1992. Under German mining law, the Society is the operator of the Messel Pit. The site has been categorised into five geo-scientific priority areas to ensure that scientific excavations are kept within reasonable limits and that particular care is taken with the more valuable strata. Excavation of the strata is determined by two factors: the available quantity of a deposit and its accessibility. Category I excavations are those permitted only within very strict limits; Category II are excavations permitted on condition of minimal disturbance to the property; Category III is in the non-stratified Eocene succession where excavations must be preceded by probes to determine which rock to assign to Category I or II; Category IV is the non-stratified Eocene succession covered by other layers and therefore inaccessible; and Category V is outside the Eocene succession and of no research value.

On the instructions of the Hessian Ministry of Science and Arts, an operational plan was drawn up to establish permanent statutory safeguards for palaeontological research. The plan aimed to set out all necessary future operations, including revegetation of the site. It is overseen by a full-time manager advised by the Senckenberg Research Institute which engages individual engineering or planning agencies to carry out the specific work required for preservation and maintenance of the site. A fenced perimeter is kept under surveillance by foot patrols to prevent trespassing. A measurement system has been established for the pit and surrounding area to monitor the stability of the slopes. Water that gathers on the pit floor is pumped away in order to stabilize the slopes of the pit. All activities are discussed with experts and other interested parties of the Cultural Advisory and Scientific Advisory Councils for the Messel Pit (Mayer, 1994).

MANAGEMENT CONSTRAINTS

The site lies in a highly urbanized and densely populated area and was badly degraded by mining. There has also been considerable controversy over the importance of the fossil resources and protection of the site. A refuse dump planned on adjoining forestry land was prevented in 1990 by citizen protests. Strict monitoring, regulation and guarding has stopped commercial exploitation.

The pit has a full-time manager and there are six full-time positions at the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research.

2.8 million Deutschmarks per annum (US\$1.9million) in 1995 plus financial support from the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History and the Senckenberg Research Institute.

LOCAL ADDRESSES

Hessian Office for the Preservation of Monuments, Schloss Biebrich, 65203 Wiesbaden, Germany.

Scientific Advisory Council for the Messel Pit, Senckenberg Research Institute, Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Cultural Advisory Council for Messel Pit, Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts, Rheinstrasse 23-25, 65185 Wiesbaden, Germany.

The principal source for the above information was the original nomination for World Heritage status.

Briggs, D. & Crowther, P. (1992). Palaeobiology a Synthesis . Blackwell Science, Oxford.

Callot, H., Ocambo, R., Albrecht, P. Hayes, J. & Takigiku, R. (1988). Porphyrins from Messel Shale. New answers to an old problem. Cour. Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg , Vol. 107, pp. 73-78, Darmstadt.

Franzen, J., Haubold, H. & Storch, G., (1993). Relationships of the mammalian faunas from Messel and the Geiseltal. Kaupia Darmst. Beitr. zur Naturgesch ., vol. 3, pp. 145-149, Darmstadt.

Gruber, G. & Micklich, N. (2007): Messel: Schätze der Urzeit. Exhibition catalogue Hessischen Landesmuseum Darmstadt. Wissenschaft. Theiss, Stuttgart.

Habersetzer, J. & Storch, G. (1987). Ecology and echolocations of the Eocene Messel bats. In: Hanak, V., Horacek, I.,& Gaisler, J. (eds) European Bat Research , Charles University Press, Prague. pp. 213-33,

---------- (1993) Radiographic studies of the cochlea in extant Chiroptera and Microchiropterans from Messel. Kaupia Darmst. Beitr. zur Naturgesch , Vol 3, pp. 97-105.

Halstead, B. (1985). The treasures of Messel - An open letter to the Prime Minister of Hesse State, Germany, Modern Geology , Vol 9: 1-3.

Hoch, E. (1988). On the ecological role of an Eocene bird from Messel, West Germany. Cour. Forsch. Inst. Senckenberg, Vol 107: 249-261, Frankfurt a.M.

Koenigswald von, W. & Storch, G. (eds.) (1998), Messel, ein Pompeji der Paläontologie . Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Sigmaringen.

Laemmert, A. (1993). Dorsal and ventral armours and various positions of embedding in Diplocynodonae (Crocodilia). Kaupia Darmst. Beitr. zur Naturgesch , Vol 3: 35-40, Darmstadt.

Mayer, E. (1994). Nomination of Messel Pit for Inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List , Hessian Ministry of State for Science and Arts, Messel.

Morlo, M., Schall, S., Mayr, G. & Seiffert, C. (2004), An annotated taxonomic list of the Middle Eocene (MP 11). Vertebrata of Messel, Cour. Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg, 252: 95-108.

Riley, M. (2003). Grube Messel . Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, U.K.

Schaal, S. & Ziegler, W. (1992). Messel - An Insight into the History of Life and the Earth , Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK. + Bibliography, 322 pp.

Storch, G. (2004), Die Grube Messel: Säugetiere am beginn ihrer großen karriere, Die Grube Messel. Biol. In Unserer Zeit, 34 (1) pp. 38-45.

March 1995. Updated 10-2007, May 2011.

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Visitor Center

Messel pit fossil site 2010, unesco world heritage.

The visitor center directly next to the World Heritage site demonstrates the spirit of the site itself in about seven exhibition rooms in a holistic and artistic way.

• Title: Visitor Center
• Creator: Messel Pit Fossil Site
• Date Created: 2010
• Location Created: Germany
• Rights: Grube Messel
• Location: Germany
• Inscription Criteria: Criteria: (viii)
• Date of Inscription: 2010
• Category of Site: Natural site

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UNESCO-World Heritage Messel Pit

In 1995, the Messel Pit fossil site near Darmstadt in Hesse was the first world heritage site in Germany to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. With the purchase of the pit in June 1991, the state of Hesse decided to enlist the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research as a particularly experienced partner in the Messel area to operate the pit.

One year later, on June 24, 1992, the Hessen state government and SGN signed a contract concerning the preservation of the Messel Pit as a unique fossil site. Starting on July 1, 1992, SGN became the operator of the Messel Pit under regulations specified by federal mining law. The state and the federal government financially support the operation through the Senckenberg Research Institute.

Starting in 1983, this house, rented from YTONG AG, served as the Senckenberg outpost at the Messel Pit. In 1992, SGN bought the house and through the years converted it into a research station. The station now comprises preparation facilities, including a wet laboratory, an X-ray laboratory, office space for the technicians and scientists, a presentation and meeting room, a caretaker’s apartment, and a lounge and bedrooms for interns. The research station is the workplace for the preparation and excavation staff as well as the home of the Section Paleoentomology.

Excavation and Preparation

Excavation must be planned and excavation permits applied for at the beginning of each year. The digging season of the various institutes begins in May and ends in October or November. In these paleontological excavations, oil-shale blocks are measured with the help of a high-tech GPS-Systems, separated and carefully scanned for fossils.

Since the water-containing oil-shale would fall apart if allowed to dry out in the air, fossil vertebrate specimens need to be embedded in a different substrate, and thus transferred. A specimen is first prepared on one side, which is then covered with artificial resin. After this artificial substrate hardens, the other side of the specimen is prepared. This preparation technique is known as the artificial resin transfer method.

What is so quickly explained in theory requires in practice days or even weeks, depending on the size and state of preservation of the fossil. The preparators use fine metal needles to prepare the fossils. Each movement is monitored through a stereomicroscope so that even the most delicate bone structures can be prepared without being damaged.

Insect fossils are only prepared from one side, and then the small oilshale plate with the fossil is kept in a small box in glycerine or silikonoil.

Messel pit maps for download

Messel pit fossil site.

General maps for operational and excavation planning (Schaal & Rabenstein 2012) 

Gauß-Krüger-Coordination system (2,3MB)

Messel pit map 300 dpi west (2,3 MB) recommended

Western part

Messel pit map west 600 dpi

Messel pit map west 300 dpi.

 (2,3 MB) recommended

Messel pit west 150 dpi

Eastern part.

Messel pit map east 600 dpi

Messel pit map east 300 dpi, messel pit map east 150 dpi.

Messel pit map (total area) 600 dpi

Messel pit map (total area) 300 dpi, messel pit map (total area) 150 dpi, similar topics.

Messel – An Ancient Greenhouse Ecosystem

Location Messel

Messel Research

The Division of Messel Research was created in 1992 as part of the Senckenberg Research Institute.

Messel Research & Mammalogy

The Division of Messel Research and Mammalogy was founded in 2017. This merger structurally links common research interests and results in a more efficient use of existing resources for research.

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