It is the story of a young dinosaur that roams with its herd 154 million years ago through what is now Northern Germany. Central Europe during the late Jurassic period is a subtropical island landscape where male saltwater crocodiles fight for the favour of females, mouse-like mammals hunt dragonflies, and where herbivores eat dwarf conifers, seaweed and marine algae. It is where the story of the young animal begins. His herd flees to safety from a predatory dinosaur only to wind up in the midst of yet another drama. During a thunderstorm, lightning nearly wipes out the entire herd and only the little one survives. And now it has to fend for itself as it searches for others of its kind accompanied by some pterosaurs, all while running away from another predatory dinosaur.

“Europasaurus – Life on Jurassic Islands” is the title of the unusual book which was released in late 2020 by the Munich-based publisher Pfeil Verlag. The results of many years of research by MLU scientist Dr Oliver Wings are depicted in a 184-page graphic novel, a form of comic strip, produced in conjunction with palaeo-artist Joschua Knüppe from Ibbenbüren (North Rhine-Westphalia) and media designer Henning Ahlers from Hanover. More specifically, it is about the work at the Langenberg limestone quarry near Goslar (Lower Saxony). A sensational find was made there in 1998: an amateur palaeontologist uncovered the bones of the first Europasaurus holgeri. The dinosaur belongs to the family of long-necked sauropods, the largest land animals of all times, some of whom grew to more than 13 metres and weighed up to 70 tonnes. Europasaurus, on the other hand, became a scientific curiosity when scientists from Bonn, Lisbon and Münchehagen (Lower Saxony) first named and described it in the scientific journal “Nature” in 2006. Contrary to initial assumptions, they were not juvenile fossils. Even when fully grown, the dinosaur only grew to a maximum height of three metres and weighed up to one tonne. Its dwarfism was probably a consequence of the limited food supply on the islands, says Wings.

The conditions on site, however, did not make it easy for Wings and his team. “I've excavated all over the world, but it was never as difficult as at Langenberg,” he says. One reason: the rock layers, made of former lime mud, and the remains of marine animals from the late Jurassic period are no longer horizontal but were pushed up almost vertically during the formation of the Harz Mountains. This meant the team also worked at heights of 16 to 17 metres from a crane basket using hammers and pickaxes. A total of 600 tonnes of rock were shifted and more than five tonnes washed through sieves. They initially met with moderate success - crocodile teeth and turtle shells were uncovered, but no Europasaurus. “That was a setback.”

This was followed by real success in 2014 - albeit not exactly what they had been looking for: the discovery of the first mammals from the Jurassic period in Germany. The first was Teutonodon langenbergensis, a mouse-like creature from the Multituberculata group, which became extinct about 34 million years ago. A tooth measuring only two millimetres in length was found during the preparation of another find - a crocodile vertebra. It was enough to be able identify the new species. To date, teeth from four other groups of mammals have been found. Wings explains just how unusual these finds are: “A large part of Southern Germany is covered by strata from the Jurassic period,” he says. These have been studied for around 200 years, but apart from a few terrestrial organisms washed up from other islands, only marine animals have been found. “Langenberg is the best site in Central Europe for finding new mammal genera from this period,” says Wings. In the meantime, every group of mammal that existed around the world during the late Jurassic has been detected, except for platypuses.

A new genus of small terrestrial crocodile called Knoetschkesuchus langenbergensis has also been identified. The animal was named for field work coordinator Nils Knötschke from the Open Air Dinosaur Park Museum in Münchehagen, who was also involved in Wings’ project. Two partial skeletons, several bones and many of the animal’s teeth have been found. Several partners are involved in processing the scientific finds. While dinosaur fossils - including some new fossils of Europasaurus - are being prepared at the Museum in Münchehagen, the University of Bonn is studying microfossils. Teeth can be reconstructed and a 3D image created with the help of micro-computed tomography.

The researchers have done more than just published their results in scientific journals. Oliver Wings came up with the idea of bringing the Europasaurus to life for the general public using his own research and findings from earlier projects. Many palaeontology professorships have been cancelled, partly because scientists did not put enough effort into communication, he says. They failed to explain the importance of their discipline. But palaeontology has one big advantage: “The interest is there; dinosaurs always create a way in,” says Wings.

There are many popular science books, says the palaeontologist, who himself is the author of a Brockhaus children’s book on dinosaurs which was published in 2005. This time, it was to be a more innovative form of scientific communication. He and Joschua Knüppe came up with the idea of the graphic novel, an extensive, research-based story in comic form. “At first I was worried about the amount of work the illustrator would have to do,” says Wings. But Knüppe was enthusiastic. The 28-year-old studied art and made a name for himself in science with his detailed, fact-based depiction of dinosaurs. In recent years, he has worked for several researchers and museums, and has also illustrated finds from Langenberg. “I already possessed the basic knowledge,” he says - he has been drawing dinosaurs since he was three years old. For the book, he also studied all the publications on the finds from Langenberg. One challenge, says Knüppe, was the narrative. Henning Ahlers, who has had a lot of experience in animated film design, was primarily responsible for the storytelling, readability and emotion. He also paid close attention to illustrative details in this project. “The fact that Joschua Knüppe is a paleo-artist and not just an illustrator from the advertising or publishing industry is important. In other words, he is not someone for whom science is a necessary evil,” explains Ahlers. Knüppe adds: “Muscles cannot be placed arbitrarily, nor can proportions be drawn at will.”