Pair of Lobster (Pseudostacus) Fossils - Lebanon

This is a spectacular pair of lobster fossils (Pseudostacus sp.) preserved on a single plate of matrix from the famous Lagerstätte near Haqil, Lebanon. Even single, well preserved specimens of Pseudastacus are quite rare but this plate has two large specimens of the genus. They are both around 5" wide from and are nicely presented on a 13x7" slab of limestone matrix. As with essentially all lobster fossils from this locality the tails are tucked but there claws, antennae and legs are beautifully preserved.

This is one of the gems, in a lot of fossils I recently purchased directly from the quarry in Lebanon. There is no restoration or color enhancement on the fossil (unlike many on the market), 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.