Detailed 1.9" Aipichthys Fossil Fish From Lebanon

This is a very detailed example of Aipichthys minor quarried near Haqil, Lebanon. This beautifully preserved 1.9" specimen is nicely centered on a slab of limestone. There are a couple of repaired cracks in the matrix but the specimen has not been restored or color enhanced.

Aipichthys is a small, very flat fish, whose body is almost as high as it is wide. Given the body shape Aipichthys, certainly could not swim very fast, and would have wandered through the rocks on the sea floor. There are no living relatives to Aipichthys as the line died out in the Upper Cretaceous.

The discovery of amazingly preserved marine fossils near Haqil, 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 1800's and these deposits have been meticulously quarried by several Lebanese families for over a century.

These deposits represent a warm, shallow sea and have yielded over 70 types of fish as well as numerous other genre found no where else in the world. The preservation on many of these specimens is truly amazing including including examples of soft bodied preservation.

I included several photos of quarrying work at Haqil in the photo set.