5" Soft-Bodied Squid Fossil - Preserved Tentacles & Ink Sac

Soft-Bodied Squid Fossil - Preserved Tentacles & Ink Sac #70433

This is a truly exceptional fossil, a 5" long squid from the Upper Cretaceous, Lebonese lagerstätten deposits. It has exquisite soft-bodied preservation including tentacles and even the ink sac. There are also two small fossil fish preserved next to it on the limestone.

These rare cephalopod fossils have been the subject of several research papers and news articles over the past few years. They compared the preserved organic granules in the ink sacks with the structures in modern squid ink and found them to be identical. In fact by dissolving the graduals in an ammonia solution they were even able to write with it. I've linked several of the papers and articles below.

A NEW LOOK AT FOSSIL CEPHALOPODS - Neal Larson, Robert Morton, Peter Larson & UWE Bergman

SQUIDS: THE CRETACEOUS INK WELL

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - Fossil Ink Sacs Yield Jurassic Pigment - A First

There has been no repair work, restoration or color enhancement done to the specimen.

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

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