Dinosaur expert Alexander Kellner steps down as Rio museum director

Alexander Kellner is stepping down as director of Rio de Janeiro's National Museum in February 2026, concluding two terms in the role. The museum, over 200 years old and part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), will see Ronaldo Fernandes take over as director. Kellner, who was born in Liechtenstein and moved to Brazil as a child, will return to his research, focusing on flying reptiles. He also plans to write novels about his experiences at the museum and his extensive fieldwork in Iran, China, Chile, and Antarctica.

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I am no longer the director of the museum.

Kellner's career has been dedicated to paleontology, with a particular passion for pterosaurs, the group of flying reptiles. Since his dissertation in 1996, he has been captivated by these creatures, which lived between 228 and 66 million years ago. He has described 42 species of flying reptiles and 46 other fossil vertebrates, publishing his findings between 1984 and 2025. His research has taken him worldwide, including annual trips to Northwest China to collaborate with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where large discoveries of pterosaur bones and eggs were made in 2005.

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Whoever remains a child will become a researcher.

Returning to Brazil in 1997 after doctoral studies in New York, where he held an office at the American Museum of Natural History with a view of Central Park, Kellner's dream was to conduct research at the Museu Nacional. He expressed that his German remains fluent, though he misses speaking Austrian German with his mother, who passed away in 2014. The museum, which suffered a significant fire in 2018, has since been reopened through global collaborative efforts.

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My office at the American Museum of Natural History had a fantastic view of Central Park.