8. Natural Fossil Museum

Natural Fossil Museum

Turkey Oak Woodlands

The most valuable feature of this nature reserve is its warm‑loving turkey oak woodland, remarkable for its rich diversity of plant species. On the north to northwest‑facing slopes, these stands gradually merge into extensive oak–hornbeam forests. The sunny southwest‑oriented former pastures have unfortunately been degraded by the planting of black pine and other non‑native tree species.

Palaeozoic Fossils

The limestone bedrock, formed in a Palaeozoic sea roughly 400 million years ago, contains numerous fossils – including bivalves, trilobites, and eurypterids.

Did you know…

… eurypterids were major predators of Palaeozoic seas? These arthropods had a protective chitinous armour and could reach lengths of up to 2 metres.

• Flowering turkey oak, locally called šipák, with its characteristically pale, felted leaves. (Photo: J. Mottl)
• Dusky skipper seeks out areas with sparse vegetation. (Photo: P. Heřman)
• Fleabane brightens dry grasslands with its golden‑yellow flower heads. (Photo: J. Mottl)
• The predatory Palaeozoic arthropod Acutiramus had claws up to 30 cm long. (Drawing: J. Sovák)
• Yellow flax is a typical species of dry grasslands on parched soils. (Photo: J. Mottl)
• The poisonous devil’s bolete belongs to the group of brightly coloured boletes. (Photo: J. Mottl)
• Turkey oak forms low, twisted stands with crooked trunks. (Photo: J. Mottl)

This area is managed by the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Administration of the Bohemian Karst  Protected Landscape Area.

• We protect nature here for you. Thank you for helping us.
• The reserve boundary is marked by two horizontal red stripes on trees or posts. The upper stripe encircles the entire trunk; the lower stripe appears only on the side outside the reserve.