Special exhibition: Echinoderms from the collection of Werner K. Mayer

The Schwäbisch Gmünd entrepreneur has dealt all his life with the Liassic strata of the foreland of the Swabian Alb controlling building sites and pits. His input resulted in a richly illustrated book and an excellent collection, which he complemented by stunning fossils from many parts of the world. Echinoderms have always belonged to his favourite fossils. Nevertheless, he donated them to the Alberti Foundation. This enables the Muschelkalk Museum to display the systematics and the phylogeny of the Crinoidea in more detail. Alberti Foundation and Muschelkalk Museum gratefully acknowledge Werner K. Mayer’s generous donation. The special exhibition in four glass cases displays echinoderms from Werner K. Mayer’s collection, among which are specimens from the Lower Devonian Hunsrück Slate, the Mississippian of the U.S., the Permian of Australia, the Swabian Posidonia Shale, the Solnhofen Lithographic Limestone and other Jurassic localities. The specimens on display demonstrate how crinoids adapted to planktonic drifting and actively swimming. The exhibition will be open until further notice for museum visitors with the regular ticket.