Great Fossil Crab Pulalius - Washington State

Washington state produces some of the best crab fossils in the world. Here is a great example of one of them, a Pulalius vulgaris from near Porter, WA. This 35 million year old crab looks like it would be right at home on one on a beach today. It wasn't found in a cannonball sized concretion in a bluff far from the ocean.

The preparation work on this is excellent with the carapace, claws and many of the legs exposed. The shell is beautifully colored and contrasts well with the rock of the nodule it was found in. Preparing these concretions is a time consuming and skilled task due to the hardness of the material. To be able to prepare one like this would have taken 10+ hours of work.

Below is an example of a Pulalius vulgaris in a concretion, after it has been broken open with a sledge hammer before preparation.