US DOLLAR
EURO
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR
CANADIAN DOLLAR
POUND STERLING
Product Description
While Silurian Period eurypterid fossils are readily available on the fossil market, DEVONIAN Period specimens are NOT. This is not only a chance to acquire an EXTREMELY RARE example from the Devonian Period but, also a chance to acquire one from an extremely rare source in Europe. Fossils like these are so rare they are cannot be commercially mined like the New York varieties. The collection we offer this specimen came from a single individual who dug them back in the early 1980's when it was still legal to collect these fossils. Several years ago, we purchased that lifetime collection. This is one of only six specimens acquired direct from that original collector and once we sell out of these, we will never have anything like this again as the site has been closed for quite some time, reserved only for scientific study and access. Of the entire collection we purchased, EUR001 at 31.5 inches long!, was the largest followed by this one as the second largest. These are unlike the New York varieties. They are always only found like a colored silhouette when you remove the over-lying rock, never with more detail than the outline of the body.
This complete prehistoric EURYPTERID (otherwise known as a SEA SCORPION) is of the ADELOPTHALMIDAE group of eurypterids from the Early Devonian deposits of Europe. It is shown in 100% natural form on the original rock it was found on. The surrounding matrix was ground away and the fossil was sealed with a stabilizer to protect its delicate natural three-dimensional features such as areas of original carapace layers. No words can emphasize the sheer rarity of this specimen. It cannot be compared to any of the common North American specimens, in any way. If you wish to exhibit an ULTRA-RARE West European specimen from the Devonian, and one with substantial size and great preservation, this is a chance that will not come again. Outside of this small collection we acquired, we have only seen one other example from Germany for sale.
Collected several decades ago when it was legal to dig in the deposit (long since closed and protected by the Germany government) and recently prepared in our lab, this is a complete Early Devonian fossil of a sea scorpion too rare to be accurately attributed to a specific species other than attributed to the family of Adelopthalmidae, due to the scarcity of known specimens.
Eurypterids are fascinating fossils and represent what many to believe to be the first life-forms that progressed out of water onto dry land. This fossil represents a scientific keystone in the progression and variety of Earth's life-forms and natural history and would surely be an important inventory specimen in ANY collection. For trilobite or other fossil arthropod collections, this would definitely be one of the central specimens of visitor interest in a public or private forum.
