Sale NH0903 Lot 209

FOSSIL GAR FISH
Atractosteus strausi
Eocene
Messel, Germany
With its bony, armor-like scales and toothy, elongated snout, the garfish was an effective predator in the freshwater rivers and lakes of 50 million years ago. This specimen is a superb example, with exceptional preservation and detail - the scales look like dried fish skin rather than ancient stone, there is fine detail to the rostrum and the body displays an excellent, rippling three-dimensionality. The high quality of this specimen is due to its having been taken from the fragile oil shale at Messel. The area was once a system of lakes surrounded by lush sub-tropical forest and it has been hypothesized that tectonic activity released toxic gas into the water, resulting in the swift deaths of the lakes' marine inhabitants, and the terrestrial animals for which it was a source of drinking water. With an anoxic deposition of mud in the still, empty waters at the bottom of the lakes, the bodies were preserved in undisturbed conditions perfect for fossilization; the down side, however, is that the layers of shale are incredibly difficult to remove intact. The conventional use of a field jacket is impossible, so excavators pour resin over the fossils in order to provide a sturdy base on which the rock can be removed; once back at the lab, the specimen is turned upside down and the matrix carefully chipped away to reveal the fossil secured in the resin. The example here is presented on just such a plaque, painted black to offset perfectly the deep brown fossil and measuring 11 x 4 3/4 inches.
Estimate $900-1,200