7.7" Fossil Guitar Ray (Rhinobatos) With Thirty Fish - Lebanon

Fossil Guitar Ray (Rhinobatos) With Thirty Fish - Lebanon #165875

This is a really awesome mortality plate from the Upper Cretaceous, marine deposits near Byblos, Lebanon. It features a 7.7" long guitar ray (Rhinobatos) along with over 30 fossil fish (Gaudryella) and shrimp (Carpopenaeus). The entire slab of limestone measures 23 x 15" and has been backed for stability. There is one repaired crack running through the center of the rock.

It comes with a display stand but we can also add a wall hanger upon request.

The genus Rhinobatos still exists in our seas, in the tropical and hot temperate regions, and includes about 30 present day species. There are eight described species of Rhinobatos from the Lebanese deposits with Rhinobatos whitfieldi being one of the smaller ones.

The discovery of amazingly preserved marine fossils near Hjoula, 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 one of the quarries at Hjoula, Lebanon