2.1" Jurassic Fossil Insect - Solnhofen Limestone

This is an unidentified, 2.1" long fossil insect from the famous Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. The body exhibits nice relief against the rock and legs and antennae are preserved. It is centered on a squared off 4.8x4" slab of limestone and comes with a display stand.

The Solnhofen limetones is a famous Lagerstätte in Germany that offer amazing preservation of Upper Jurassic fossils. It is where on of the most famous fossils of all time, Archaeopteryx was found. The fine grained limestone makes excellent building materials which has let to heavy quarrying over the past two centuries which as a result has led to some amazing fossils being unearthed.

This area represented an 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 was devoid of oxygen. This lack of scavengers on the bottom of the sea led to amazing preservation of the fauna found there.