3.7" Fossil Fish (Diplomystus Birdi) - Hjoula, Lebanon

Fossil Fish (Diplomystus Birdi) - Hjoula, Lebanon #200730

This is a 3.7" long fossil fish (Diplomystus birdi) from the Upper Cretaceous, marine deposits near Hjoula, Lebanon. The fossil exhibits a beautiful orange preservation that contrast nicely with the creme limestone. An exquisite specimen if ever there was one.

Interestingly, Diplomystus is the same genus as one of the most common fish found in the Eocene aged Green River Formation of Wyoming. This one being a marine species and the other lived in a lake.

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