Mastodons

In 1964, extensive earthworks were made in Škale pri Velenju due to the sinking of the land. One of the engineers found remains of large bones. The excavations were carried out by the Institute of Geology of the University in Ljubljana (now the Geology Department at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering of the University in Ljubljana) and preparation by the Museum of Natural History in Ljubljana.
Paleontological research showed that the discovered bones, tusks and other parts of teeth belonged to proboscideans, which had inhabited the Šalek Valley approximately 3 million years ago. The results showed that there were two species of the Proboscidean fossils: Anancus arvernensis and Mammut (Zygolophodon) borsoni.
The collection displays three tusks, other teeth and parts of skeleton, while there are also some fossilized remains of fruits from the plants of that time which represent the flora. The plastics of the Anancus arvernensis species were created by the academic sculptor Dora Novšak following the model from the Viennese Natural History Museum. The picture in the background is Tomaž Perko’s work and shows the Šalek Valley when it was populated by the mentioned proboscideans (anancus and mastodons).