Museo dei fossili di Besano

The museum of fossils of Besano displays a significant part of the exceptional findings discovered around the italian side of Monte San Giorgio.

It's a window into the distant past of 240 million years ago, when ancient creatures lived in the warm waters of a tropical sea, and which today, can be admired perfectly preserved in the rooms: gorgeous and bizarre-looking ammonites, plants, fishes and reptiles. Among the reptiles stands out the huge Besanosaurus, an almost 6 feet long Ichthyosaur with 4 embryos in her abdomen, still visible today. The other star of the museum is the Saltriosauro, recently renamed as Saltriovenator zanellai, which is considered the oldest fossil of a large carnivorous dinosaur in Italy.