Bargain, 4.3" Fossil Shrimp (Aeger) - Solnhofen Limestone

Bargain, Fossil Shrimp (Aeger) - Solnhofen Limestone #143816

This is a large, fossil shrimp (Aeger tipularius) from the 155 million year old Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. The body itself would be over 6.5" long if it was outstretched and including the antennae it's well over 12" long.

This specimen is bargain priced because it has significant amounts of color enhancement/restoration on both the body, legs and antennae. This type of color enhancement is frequently done on Solnhofen fossils that don't have as much contrasts with the rock, though we prefer to acquire and sell unenhanced specimens. Had this specimen not had much color enhancement it would likely sell for around $1k given it's size.

This specimen includes a display stand.

The Solnhofen limestone is a famous Upper Jurassic lagerstätte in Germany. It is where one of the most famous fossils of all time, Archaeopteryx, was found. The fine-grained limestone makes excellent building material, which has led to heavy quarrying over the past two centuries. In the process, some spectacular fossils were unearthed, including fossil dragonflies, fish, pterosaurs, shrimp, horseshoe crabs, and many more.

This area represents an ancient 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 were largely devoid of oxygen. This lack of oxygen and scavengers on the bottom of the sea led to beautiful fossil preservation.