6" Giant Fossil Locust (Pycnophlebia) - Solnhofen Limestone

This is a GIANT fossil locust/grasshopper of the species Pycnophlebia robusta from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. These locusts are a very rare component of the fauna, and this one is a whopper at 6 inches in length. It's the positive impression in the rock and the body has been outlined using an air-scribe to provide some additional contrasts to the specimen. The antenna were not preserved and were added were carved into the rock with the airscribe but there is no restoration otherwise on the specimen.

It's very aesthetically displayed on a 11.6x6.6 slab of matrix.

The Solnhofen limestones 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.