Dating from the late Jurassic period, the fossil of this extinct Aspidorhynchus acutirostris is about 155 million years old. The specimen is part of the extensive palaeontological collection built up since the end of the 19th century. The palaeontological collection consists of more than 100,000 macrofossils from the Palaeozoic to the Quaternary periods and a collection of mostly Cenozoic microfossils. The collection, started in the 19th century by Prof. Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden (1809-1894) and expanded by his successor, Canon Henri de Dorlodot (1855-1929), has been housed in the former Coal Museum. Part of the collection was moved to the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences in Heverlee in 2006.
This fossil was probably part of the historical collection of Canon de Dorlodot. The paleontology collection was further added to over the years by professors, doctoral students and researchers who brought back pieces after their expeditions for further research or as didactic material.
Aspidorhynchus acutirostris is encapsulated in the lithographic limestone of Solnhofen (southern Germany), best known for Archaeopteryx fossils. The Archaeopteryx is one of the oldest known birds and is therefore referred to as the 'first bird'. Aspidorhynchus acutirostris was dissected with extreme precision. It is no longer known who performed the dissection. This technique of dissection is no longer performed by KU Leuven researchers.