Ice age: Podravina fossils from distant past

Spoznaja da su u dalekoj prošlosti postojala duga ledena doba proširena je u javnosti zahvaljujući animiranim filmovima, no malo tko zna da su Podravinom šetala krda vunastih i stepskih mamuta, vunastih nosoroga, pragoveda, stepskih bizona i dr. Zahvaljujući ponajviše privatnim kolekcionarima, Josipu Cugovčanu i Ivanu Zvijercu, struka, ali i šira javnost po prvi puta su imali priliku vidjeti kao jednu cjelinu fosilne ostatke stare preko 500.000 godina, a koji su sakupljeni uz rijeku Dravu i u privatnim šljunčarama, u sklopu izložbe »Fosilna bogatstva Hrvatskog zagorja i Podravine« u Muzeju krapinskih neandertalaca. Radi se o impozantnim ostacima vunastog mamuta (zubi, kljova, rebra, kosti nogu), zubima stepskog mamuta, lubanjama pragoveda i vunastog nosoroga te rogovima europskog jelena, stepskog bizona, golemom jelena i dr. Pronađeni i stručno obrađeni fosili ne daju točne i precizne stratigrafske podatke s obzirom da se radi o pretaloženim ostacima, no zasigurno pridonose boljem razumijevanju geološke prošlosti Podravine i podizanju razine svijesti o važnosti i očuvanju prirodne baštine.Cognition about the existence of long ice ages in distant past is widespread among general public thanks to animated films, but few people know that herds of woolly and prairie mammoths, woolly rhinos, extinct species of cattle, prairie buffalos and other species once rambled through Podravina. It is primarily thanks to private collections of Josip Cugovčan and Ivan Zvijerac, that scientists and wider public for the very first time had the opportunity to see fossil remains older than 500.000 years as a whole, collected along the Drava river and in private gravel fields and exhibited within the exhibition »Fossil treasure of Hrvatsko Zagorje and Podravina« in the Museum of Krapina Neanderthals. The exhibition comprised impressive remains of the woolly mammoth (teeth, fang, ribs, leg bones), teeth of the prairie mammoth, sculls of cattle ancestors and woolly rhino and antlers of the European deer, prairie buffalo, giant deer etc. Discovered and professionally processed fossils can’t provide precise stratigraphic data, since the remains are oversedimented, but they surely contribute to better comprehension of geological history of Podravina and raise awareness about importance of preservation of natural heritage