Sofia University Museum of Paleontology and Historical Geology

Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” Museum of Paleontology and Historical Geology
	Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” Museum of Paleontology and Historical Geology is located within the 5th floor of the North Wing of the Main Building of the University
Established	1897
Location	15 Tzar Osvoboditel Blvd.,; Sofia, Bulgaria
Coordinates	42°41′36.2394″N 23°20′6.8274″E / 42.693399833°N 23.335229833°E
Type	Natural history museum,; University museum,; Evolutionary biology
Collection size	vertebrate fossils, invertebrate fossils, trace fossils, micro-fossils, geologic maps; (estimated total specimens - 150,000;; estimated type specimens - 100)
Curator	Svetlozar Seferinov
Website	gpff.gea.uni-sofia.bg/facilities/museum/

The Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" Museum of Paleontology and Historical Geology (SUMPHG) (Bulgarian: Музей по палеонтология и исторична геология към Софийския университет "Свети Климент Охридски"), is a paleontology museum located in the main building of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski", Sofia, Bulgaria.^[1]

History[edit]

The museum is within the main building of Sofia University, designed by Jean Bréasson, re-designed by Yordan Milanov, and later by Ljuben Konstantinov. Its collections are primarily intended for research and are, thus, not accessible to the public. A limited number of fossils from the collection is on display in the SUMPHG, and is one of the primary localities for storing fossils collected in Bulgaria. The original fossils, around which the current collection has grown, were those gathered by the first Bulgarian state geologist Georgi Zlatarski (1854 - 1909) and those purchased from Dr. A. Krantz.^[1]^[2] Later specimens collected by doctoral students and as part of the Bulgarian geological surveys were added.

Faculty[edit]

Many notable Bulgarian paleontologists have worked at SUMPHG, including Peter Bakalov, Vassil Tzankov, Ivan Nikolov, Natalia Dimitrova, Milka Entcheva, Emilia Kojumdjieva, Nonka Motekova, Stoycho Breskovski, Angel Pamouktchiev et al.^[2]^[3]^[1]

Public access[edit]

Admission is free to the museum for all visitors. The museum is open 10 am - 12 am, 1 pm - 4 pm Monday to Friday. It is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. SUMPHG is an important venue for widening interest in paleontology, evolutionary biology and Earth sciences.

The museum logo is based on the Deinotherium skeleton displayed by the entrance.

Gallery[edit]

Deinotherium thraceiensis (Kovachev, 1964), Miocene, Ezerovo, Plovdiv District - The Entrance hall of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" Museum of Paleontology and Historical Geology
Parapuzosia daubreei (de Grossouvre, 1894), Santonian, Shumen in the Main Hall of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" Museum of Paleontology and Historical Geology
Samples of the Krantz paleontological collection of the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" Museum of Paleontology and Historical Geology

Exhibits of geologic eras and periods[edit]

The Neogene period
The Paleogene period
The Upper Cretaceous series/epoch - SUMPHG
The Lower Cretaceous series/epoch - SUMPHG
The Jurassic period - SUMPHG
The Triassic period - SUMPHG
The Paleozoic era - SUMPHG

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c Pamouktchiev, Angel (1995). The Museum of Paleontology and Historical Geology: A Guide. Sofia: Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" Press. ISBN 954-07-0567-3. OCLC 720826433. (In Bulgarian)
^ ^a ^b Tchoumatchenco, Platon; Nikolov, Todor (2016). "Compendium of Bulgarian Palaeontologists (1896-December 31, 2015). Part I. A-K" (PDF). Review of the Bulgarian Geological Society. 77 (1): 114–115.(In Bulgarian with summary in English)
^ Tchoumatchenco, Platon; Nikolov, Todor (2016). "Compendium of Bulgarian Palaeontologists (1896-December 31, 2015). Part II. Л - Я (L - Ya) " (PDF). Review of the Bulgarian Geological Society. 77 (2–3).(In Bulgarian with summary in English)

42°41′36.2394″N 23°20′6.8274″E / 42.693399833°N 23.335229833°E / 42.693399833; 23.335229833