The first 150 years of Bromacker discoveries: a model of cooperation in modes of research, funding, outreach, and science communication

The Lower Permian Bromacker locality preserves what may legitimately be argued as the most well-preserved terrestrial vertebrate tetrapods of their age in the world. It is within outcrops of the Tambach Formation in the midregion of the Thuringian Forest, approximately 1.5 km north of the village of Tambach-Dietharz and 20 km south of the town of Gotha in formerly eastern, now central, Germany. Over fifty years of excavation, sedimentological and paleoecological research have demonstrated the Bromacker to be an internally drained paleograben showing evidence of being the earliest modern type terrestrial foodweb, predating those of the Mesozoic by minimally 50 million years or more. The locality has been mined intermittently for sandstone for over 150 years, and became initially famous for its preservation of footprints, first studied by Wilhelm Pabst from 1887-1908. In 1974 Thomas Martens discovered the first vertebrate skeletal fossils, and continued to work the quarry from 1975-1992, and in 1993, Martens initiated a remarkable international collaborative effort. The Bromacker is significant in its collaborative and cooperative approaches in almost all aspects, from research, to funding, to outreach, to dissemination. Initially teams from the United States joined Martens and his German crews; later to be joined by colleagues from Slovakia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Likewise, funding came from German and American institutions, as well as National Geographic and NATO. Education, scientific communication, and outreach have ranged from academic publications to interpretive multilingual signage to popular media to cooperative support from the surrounding villages, businesses, and cities.