On Tuesday 3 December 2019 opens the temporary exhibition “Deinotheria and Sequoias: Indicators of climate changes in the Aegean”, organized by the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrifies Forest at the Eugenides Foundation.

The main exhibits of the temporary exhibition “Deinotheria and Sequoias: Indicators of climate changes in the Aegean” are the petrified tree trunks of Sequoias from both the marine and the land part of the Lesvos Petrified Forest and the impressive life size model of the Deinotherium of Lesvos, with movement and sound effects.

Sequoias are the largest trees that lived on earth and are indicators of the continental climate that prevailed in Aegiis 20 million years ago.

The Lesvos Deinotherium is one of the oldest Proboscidean mammal fossils in Greece, 19 million years old. The fossilized lower jawbone and bones of the animal were found at the area of Gavathas and their presence proves the animal’s migration from Africa to Eurasia.

The exhibition also features impressive fossils from the excavations conducted during 2018-2019 in the Lesvos Petrified Forest, as well as information on plants and animals (micro-mammals, reptiles, amphibians and fish) that lived in Lesvos 19 million years ago.

Aim of the exhibition is to introduce the visitors, and especially young people and students, to fossil finds of unique scientific value and to their role as indicators of past climate changes.

The number of fossils that is being revealed in Lesvos, is extremely interesting and important for understanding the major past climate changes and their impacts on ecosystems, that are proved by the presence of specific species that have disappeared or no longer appear in Greece and the wider Mediterranean.

The Eugenides Foundation collaborates and hosts for the fourth consecutive year in its premises the exhibitions organized by the Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest, offering the opportunity to the public of Athens to learn about the efforts of scientists to save fossils and the important research on geological history, ecosystems, biodiversity and climate change, in a valid and at the same time understandable and enjoyable way.