3.7" Cretaceous Fossil Squid with Tentacles & Ink Sac - Lebanon

Cretaceous Fossil Squid with Tentacles & Ink Sac - Lebanon #200277

This is a soft-bodied fossil squid from the Upper Cretaceous marine deposits of Lebanon. About 3.7" of the squid has been exposed, though further prep by a skilled preparator could exposed more of the mantle and tentacles. Soft bodied organisms are uncommon in the fossil record. This soft bodied squid specimen still includes its ink sack and beautifully preserved tentacles.

There is a repaired crack through the mantle/fins which required glue repair. It comes with an acrylic display stand.

The discovery of amazingly preserved marine fossils near Hakel, Lebanon dates back many centuries. In fact, they were first mentioned in writing by Herodotus, over 450 years before the birth of Christ. The first scientific work on these localities began in the 1800s: these deposits have been meticulously quarried by several Lebanese families for over a century. We purchase our specimens directly from one of these families.

These deposits represent a warm, shallow sea of the Middle Cretaceous, and have yielded over 70 types of fish and numerous other genera found nowhere else in the world. The preservation on many of these specimens is truly amazing: many examples of soft bodied preservation have been found.

A photo of the quarry at Hakel, Lebanon

$595

SPECIES

Unidentified Squid

AGE

Upper Cretaceous (~94 Million Years)