2.05" Beautiful Fossil Damselfly - Solnhofen Limestone

This is a 2.05" wide fossil damselfly from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. Complete fossil damselflies are fairly rare finds in this formation and there are several species present.

This specimen shows a lot of detail, particularly it's eyes. It is located on a 10.6 x 9.6" slab of limestone which also contains two floating crinoids on the back side of the limestone.

The Solnhofen limestone is a famous Upper Jurassic lagerstätte in Germany. It is where one of the most famous fossils of all time, Archaeopteryx, was found. The fine-grained limestone makes excellent building material, which has led to heavy quarrying over the past two centuries. In the process, some spectacular fossils were unearthed, including fossil dragonflies, fish, pterosaurs, shrimp, horseshoe crabs, and many more.

This area represents an ancient archipelago at the edge of a sea. Due to high salt content, the lowest levels in the water column could not support much life and were largely devoid of oxygen. This lack of oxygen and scavengers on the bottom of the sea led to beautiful fossil preservation.

SOLD
DETAILS
SPECIES
Unidentified
LOCATION
Eichstatt, Bavaria, Germany
FORMATION
Solnhofen Limestone
SIZE
Damselfly: 2.05" wide, 1.8" long, Rock: 10.6 x 9.6"
CATEGORY
ITEM
#280418
GUARANTEE
We guarantee the authenticity of all of our specimens.