Bolívar

Paleontological Museum of Bolívar in Carchi

The Paleontological Museum of Bolívar has fossils discovered by Italian researchers. Research carried out by scientists determined that mastodons, saber-toothed tigers, wild horses and the mylodon inhabited the Bolívar canton, Carchi province. The pieces were found in various sectors of Bolívar and the museum houses approximately 205 fossil remains. The fossils of the large mammals that inhabited the northern Andes of Ecuador approximately 20 million years ago have been relocated to this new and modern complex.c This is the largest museum in the northern part of the country. They are fossil remains of mastodons and mylodons from the Tertiary and Quaternary eras found in Bolívar, in 1987, by Italian researchers Giovanni Ficarelli, Vitorio Borselli and representatives of the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Florence, plus the Ecuadorian Miguel Moreno Espinoza of the Museum of Natural Sciences of Quito. In addition, the excavations revealed a large number of clay pots and crafts representative of the Pasto culture, a pre-Columbian ethnic group that inhabited the Andean strip in the region of what is now Nariño, in southern Colombia, and Carchi, in northern Ecuador. Location Avenida Mantilla and Panamericana Norte streets in the Bolivar canton, Carchi province entrance prices Adults $2.00 Children, seniors and disability $1.00