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Product Description
SPECIAL NOTE: Be wary of very low prices for large slabs of these fossils. It is VERY COMMON to make up large fossils of these crinoids by piecing together many small scrap fragments that have little to no value, and glue them together to make sizable, impressive-looking plates. By looking closely at those "Frankenstein Fossils", you will not see the very large crinoid heads and long continuous natural stems as you see in this large original specimen we offer here. This large crinoid plate is a GENUINE SINGLE LAYER extracted in pieces and reassembled from the original entire layer of very large crinoids. It is the 'real deal' versus a fabricated piece made up of scraps. This explains the disparity in prices from a large, single original specimen compared to one made for the tourist market.
Truly a museum grade display fossil CRINOID slab of impressively large proportions, this is an amazing ENORMOUS natural association of a concentrated group of large and complete prehistoric SEA LILIES of the species Scyphocrinus elegans. The massive slab was formerly the bottom of the Silurian sea where a number of these creatures died and became buried still in their original articulated positions as they were when once alive. The relief and detail of this amazing specimen must be seen in person as it looks so much more impressive than the photos convey. While still alive today, sea lilies were much more prevalent in the ocean in prehistoric times. Whether destined for a prime spot in a major museum, educational exhibition or private interior, this is one piece that will most definitely leave its viewers with an incredible impression of how bizarre ocean life was and still is today! How much more impressive would this three dimensional ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC giant slab of prehistoric marine life be compared to a painting? It is as flat as a painting and can easily be mounted to a wall with metal brackets as it averages only 1.5 to 2 inches thick.
Special highlights of why this piece is different than most offered are the unusually large size it is and the quality of the preparation and detail as well as the completeness of a large intact portion of this former crinoid colony. The majority of Moroccan crinoid slabs are painted with an ugly artificial black color on the fossil and dull red color over the original stone. Furthermore, the preservation and its preparation is often substandard. This specimen is far superior to what is usually encountered. There is none of the typical paint applied to this specimen which allows incredible detail to be seen as a result of the finest lab preparation of the slab. There is NO FABRICATION of the crinoids and only the original excavation saw lines were repaired and filled. The entire back of the slab is reinforced with epoxy and the overall thickness is only 1.5 to 2 inches on average making this an IDEAL wall mount display fossil. There are numerous COMPLETE large crinoid specimens on this slab including their long stems and fully inflated calyxes. The closer one inspects this slab, the more rewarding the experience. There is so much minute detail preserved as seen in the photos above. What the photos do NOT show is how some of the sea lilies PROTRUDE dramatically off the slab front. Many large Moroccan crinoid slabs are pieced together and made up of small unrelated slab portions. You can see long stems and giant crinoid heads that span the entire slab on this specimen which indicates this is a truly original large portion of the crinoid bed and not one made up of smaller, unassociated parts. Furthermore, the concentration and completeness of these large crinoids far exceeds what is usually seen offered for sale.
If a museum wished to display a visually impacting specimen of exotic, extinct marine life from over 400 million years ago, this piece would be one that public visitors would likely remember and be duly impressed by! For the ultimate commercial or residential interior design application, this is an extraordinarily fine quality and large fossil slab of the finest scientific grade showing a rare and visually intriguing AUTHENTIC AND ORIGINAL example of some of the earliest complex marine creatures on our planet.
