RARE CRETACEOUS AULOSOMA RADICIFORMIS FOSSIL SEA SPONGE FROM GERMANY WITH FULLY INFLATED PRESERVATION *SPF1

Product Description

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This is a SUPERB Upper Cretaceous fossil sea sponge specimen of Aulosoma radiciformis.  It was found in the Campanian deposits of a limestone quarry in Lower Saxony, Germany.  It displays rarely seen fully inflated form and anatomy as when once alive 80 million years ago in the ancient seas when dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs terrorized the land.  

Such a rare specimen has an interesting background.  It was collected several decades ago by the quarry foreman and part of a select collection of unprepared specimens we directly acquired from the foreman.  This fossil sponge collection was small but of the absolute finest quality, hand-selected specimens by the quarry boss and all the workers.  This small collection took over a year to assemble and was so few in specimens that it did not fill one apple crate.  Again, these were not fragments or commonly found examples that can be picked up, they were cherry-picked by all the workers who submitted the specimens to the foreman when they were excavating the best producing layers.  We have been to the quarry ourselves and spent hours collecting and can attest that it is rare to find one single example and if you are so lucky, it is likely incomplete and broken.  On one occasion, we spent an entire day at the quarry with free rein to cover anywhere and we never found a single specimen that can match what we acquired in the collection from the quarry boss.  When we sell this collection, we will never offer any others as this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  

Since the fossils were unprepared and just as they were found, we then prepared each in our lab to the same painstaking, time-consuming methods that the finest free-standing trilobites are prepared.  Each fossil sponge requires hours and hours of careful preparation work - work that would cost much more than the prices we are asking for the fossils, if we did the preparation work for an outside party.  The results are worth it with every minute detail of rare preserved anatomy revealed! 

This Aulosoma radiciformis fossil has its entire surface revealed showing preserved minute anatomy in a fully inflated, three-dimensional life-like form when once alive during the days of the dinosaurs.  This type of preservation is almost NEVER seen in fossil sponges.  Most sponge fossils are flattened shapes on rock having been buried and compressed during the fossilization process.  On this rare specimen, you can see all the body constrictions and growth rings.  Even a fully preserved osculum (opening where the water exited the sponge after being filtered) is visible and perfectly preserved at the top.  It was prepared in our lab with the original surrounding host rock left attached to serve as a display base.  

A very rare occurrence can be found in a unique Cretaceous fossil deposit in Northwestern Germany.  A variety of highly unusual SEA SPONGE FOSSILS dating from a Campanian Era sea of the Cretaceous were preserved in FULL THREE DIMENSIONAL PRESERVATION retaining delicate anatomy RARELY seen in sponge fossils.  The sponges found in this deposit comprise a very diverse breadth of anatomical varieties and nearly 180 different species.  The fossils are found embedded in limestone host rock and were dug from subterranean deposits therefore, they were not exposed to the harsh elements and show no typical erosion or degradation of detail like so many sponge fossils of similar 3D preservation.  These specific fossil sponges are so bizarre because the best specimens are completely lifelike with full three-dimensional preservation looking as if they were alive seconds ago before being turned to stone.  

The fossil sponges from this deposit show minute surface detail of all relative anatomy including the osculum (little mouth at top where the water was expelled), pores, pustules, bumps, internal chambers when broken, stem, signs of prehistoric predator and environmental damage incurred when once alive and in some cases, additional prehistoric life-forms attached to the outer surface.  The color is natural white from the limestone with variations due to trace minerals. 

Regardless of your interests in fossil collecting, one cannot help being totally fascinated to be able to witness a fully preserved, life-like sponge in complete inflated form from the Cretaceous seas.  You could make latex molds of the different varieties found at this locality and make casts that could be used in 100% accurate Cretaceous marine dioramas!   If you could go back in time to the days of dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and dive into the ocean, this is some of the amazing ocean life you would witness!   The state of preservation of these sponge fossils is nothing short of breath-taking!  The vast majority of fossil sponges in the world are very, very poorly preserved and mostly represented by only fragments or badly eroded by elements.  These sponges are unlike anything else we have ever encountered and their supply is extremely limited from this one, single locality.  Once all of our limited collection are sold, it is likely you will never see such a realistic and phenomenal state of preservation in a fossilized sponge ever again!