Lot 72B
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Central Europe, Solnhofen Plattenkalk - Eichstatt, Germany, Jurassic Period, ca. 150 million years ago. An extremely well-preserved Leptotheutis gigas, a type of prehistoric giant squid (cuttlefish). Fossils of this creature are rarely seen because squid are mostly soft tissue with only an internal cuttlebone skeleton and so do not preserve well. With this example, we can attribute such complete and rare preservation to a gentle burial of the original animal and a ""top-down view"" orientation of the body when covered. This rare positioning allows for the enormous eyes to be seen flanking each side of the creature. This specimen shows full preservation of all soft body tissue, tentacle, eyes and a rare inflated body relief. Since squid are mostly soft tissue with only an internal cuttlebone skeleton, rarely are they found preserved as fossils. On this particular specimen, we have anatomical preservation of a type and quality we have yet to see elsewhere in the market! Size of stone matrix: 35" L x 10.75" W (88.9 cm x 27.3 cm); squid: 32.5" L (82.6 cm)
This Giant Squid fossil was pointed with the tentacles out, running out to the edge of the quarry cliff face. This is the reason the last few inches of the tips of the tentacles are missing. This is a natural weathered edge, not missing from digging. These cephalopods had short tentacles so very little is absent and the fact that there is any tentacle impression is rare as the majority of these, when they are found, only have the main body preserved, not the tentacles!
This specimen comes from a very old (40+ years) German collection back in the day when collectors cared more about finding a place to display their fossils than having large plates for aesthetics. The entire specimen has only been repaired. No part of the squid was restored, only cracks filled from the excavation damage to the plate when the plate was first extracted in pieces.
Provenance: ex-private German collection, formed in the 1950s
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#175610
- Condition: Crack repair and filling on slab but no fabrication to fossil - all fossil detail 100% authentic.
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