The State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe (german: link=no, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe), abbreviated SMNK, is one of the two state of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
's natural history museums. Together with the
State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart) it is one of the most important repositories for state-owned natural history collections.
It is well known for its exhibitions on all aspects of natural history in the city of
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
and beyond. Every year, the SMNK is visited by about 150,000 people.
Research at the museum mainly deals with various fields of
natural history i.e. geology,
paleontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
,
taxonomy
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
,
biogeography, and ecology. The SMNK is part of the national networks German Natural History Research Collections (DNFS), the Humboldt-Ring (Association of Research Museums) and of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
The SMNK looks back at a long history as it emerged from the cabinet of natural history of
Landgravine Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
Princess Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt (11 July 1723 – 8 April 1783), was a consort of Baden, a dilettante artist, scientist, collector and salonist.
Biography
The daughter of Louis VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt and Charlotte Christine ...
during the mid 18th century.
Controversy
The museum has been criticized for unethical and possibly illegal appropriation of fossils. The fossil of ''
Ubirajara jubatus
"Ubirajara" ("lord of the spear") is an informal genus of compsognathid theropod that lived during the early Cretaceous period in what is now Brazil. It is known by a single species, "Ubirajara jubatus", recovered from the Crato Formation. It ha ...
'', a unique dinosaur from the Cretaceous period with structures that might be early feathers, was exported from Brazil in 1995 with a permit for unspecified specimens, so the document cannot be directly linked to the ''Ubirajara'' fossil. In addition, Brazilian law does not allow permanent exports of fossils, only loans. The Brazilian Society of Paleontology announced it would investigate the issue, and several Brazilian paleontologists want the fossil to be returned.
The paper describing the fossil, authored by a researcher of the museum, has been temporarily removed.
Other fossils in the museum, such as belonging to ''
Unwindia
''Unwindia'' is a genus of pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Albian stage) of what is now modern-day Brazil.
Discovery and naming
The German State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe obtained a pterosaur fossil from an ...
'' and ''
Susisuchus
''Susisuchus'' is an extinct genus of neosuchian mesoeucrocodylian crocodyliform from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. Fossils have been found from the Nova Olinda Member of the Aptian-age Crato Formation in the Araripe and Lima Campos Basins ...
'', face similar ethical concerns.
See also
*
List of museums in Germany
*
List of natural history museums
This is a list of natural history museums, also known as museums of natural history, i.e. museums whose exhibits focus on the subject of natural history, including such topics as animals, plants, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, and climatolog ...
References
External links
Official website
{{authority control
Museums in Baden-Württemberg
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
Buildings and structures in Karlsruhe
Tourist attractions in Karlsruhe