Desert with Animal Skeletons by Heinz Sterzenbach

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Desert with Animal Skeletons, Acrylic Collage, Canvas, 31,5x39,4 inch, 2007. Into this part of the Libyan desert only rare expeditions arrive in search of the rare green stones from the legendary Skarabaeus in the jewellery of the Pharao Tutanchamun, a material, which probably resulted from a cosmic event in the Libyan desert. One arrives on the way of a thousand years old "silk road" used allready in the era of antique Egypt. In the foreground of the picture lie two petrified animal skeletons in the stony sandy soil - turtle and crocodile - both from the oil shale pit of Messel/Germany. Only one kind of crocodile was continuous inhabitant of the former Messel lake. It belonged to the most frequent that to altogether the seven large reptiles, which remained in the oil shale of the pit. Whether they temporarily immigrated or were rinsed as cadaver into the lake is unclear. Anyhow one up to four meter long monsters were under them. The stomach stones discovered in their entrails served them as ballast when dipping. Today the pit Messel belongs to the most famous places of discovery from the eozaen. There scientist found fossil remainders of insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals even. To this exotic animal world among other things giant ants, giant queues, even crocodiles belonged and up to 2 meters high giant run birds. In addition huschten fox-large original horses, tapirs, ant bear and shed animals by the tropical forest. Also half apes, hedgehog-similar insectivores, bats and amazingly many kinds of bird. Between Frankfurt/Main and Darmstadt convenient, Messel was 50 million years ago still on the height of the today's Siziliens, thus substantially more near at the equator. There were not the continents, how we know them today, at this time yet. Perhaps you visit the world nature inheritance pit Messel once, by the way the only UNESCO nature inheritance place in Germany. The form of the pyramid-like collections in the back ground are perhaps the model