Huge 9" Cretaceous Lobster Fossil -

This is a very large and exquisitely preserved fossil lobster from the famous Lagerstätte near Haqil, Lebanon. It's of the genus Palinurus though the species has not yet been named, and is over 9 inches long.

This is one of the gems, in a lot of fossils I recently purchased directly from the quarry in Lebanon. Lobsters of this size are rare finds in the quarry and this is the best example they had available at the time. There is no restoration or color enhancement on the fossil, just a few repaired cracks in the matrix.

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.