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PRISTINE SET OF FIVE LARGE LAB CLEANED CALCITE BELEMNITES FROM THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD North Central Germany UPPER CRETACEOUS PERIOD (CAMPANIAN): 83 - 71 million years ago While much more common to find damaged and embedded rock or sliced in rock tiles, this is a set of 5 of the largest complete belemnites we collected. These are all of the largest we have to offer and will have no more. These are three-dimensional and solid translucent calcite belemnites of the species Gonioteuthis quadrata sp. freed from the rock in which they were found. Finding an undamaged one and then KEEPING IT UNDAMAGED as you remove it from the hard limestone, is a real chore and very difficult to accomplish! Literally, MORE than a ton of rock has to be turned and broken by hand to find this many complete belemnites from this Cretaceous site. After we collected these, we then subjected each one to individual microscopic cleaning in our lab. This procedure revealed seldom-seen surface anatomical detail as seen in the third last photo above. Every belemnite we have ever encountered for sale had been ground and polished on a grinding machine to remove the rock but doing so, removes all this incredible natural surface detail. NONE of these specimens have touched a grinding wheel! After that, each individual belemnite was cleaned with micro-abrasive in our lab. The investment of time to first, find them, break the rock and remove them, then clean each one in the lab far exceeds the price we are asking. This set encompasses nearly half of all that we will ever have to sell. If you want pristine preserved belemnites free from their rock and in the most natural state, this is a fantastic display collection. Most will glow when held up in the light because they are pure calcite. We even cleaned the opening in the base of each of the bodies. Each belemnite has NO REPAIR OR RESTORATION. These belemnites were darting about below the ocean waves at the same time many incredible large prehistoric marine reptiles like PLESIOSAURS and MOSASAURS chased them about. It was the same time many of the most ferocious dinosaurs walked the Earth and largest pterodactyls soared in the skies above. If you appreciate fossil specimens of a nature that are rarely seen on the market, then this set should appeal to you. These are so unusual and beautiful with their ORIGINAL INTACT ANATOMY that they would also make incredible centerpieces for exotic custom jewelry designs. The site where this fossil was collected is unique with no commercial fossil production. This is a exquisitely preserved and excellent display specimen set of these once-prolific creatures of the ancient seas.
Cephalopods evolved during the Late Cambrian Period. Their bodies were predominantly elongate with conical shells. Some of these creatures evolved into semi-coiled forms eventually giving rise to coiled cephalopods like ammonites and nautili. Another branch of straight-shelled cephalopods continued to coexist with the coiled forms on into the Pennsylvanian Period. These straight forms were much less diverse and abundant than the coiled cephalopods, as a whole. Straight cephalopods were among the most advanced invertebrates of their time having eyes, jaws, and a sophisticated nervous system. These creatures were predators that swam freely using a jet propulsion system by squirting water from their bodies. They had tentacles and ink sacs also much like the present-day squid. Except for belemnites, cephalopods had external shells with hollow internal chambers separated by walls called septa. A tube called the siphuncle, connected the body with the chambers allowing the animal to fill them with water or air, changing its buoyancy in order to rise or drop in the ocean. Only the last and largest chamber was occupied by the living animal. Belemnites were different than other straight cephalopods like Orthoceras in that they had internal shells called 'guards' which were covered with the soft, muscular tissues of their bodies. These shells were also chambered but much less complex than the straight varieties of nautiloids and ammonoids. The gas chamber by which the animal regulated its buoyancy is called the phragmocone. In finely preserved specimens, it is a conical, thin-walled opening at the posterior of the shell. Rare belemnite fossils complete with soft body parts have been found and provide us with a valuable glimpse of what these creatures looked like when alive. Belemnites possessed 10 tentacles and males had chitonous hooks which they used to grasp the females during mating. Straight cephalopods probably lived for one to six years, with the majority living two to four years. They fed on plankton (tiny free-floating organisms), sea lilies, and smaller orthoceras. Although many fed off the ocean floor, others may have caught plankton while floating or swimming via jet propulsion, expelling water through a funnel-like opening to propel themselves in the opposite direction. THE 5 LARGEST FOSSILS OF THIS SPECIES OF THE COLLECTION WITH EXTREMELY RARE SURFACE DETAIL ANATOMY MICROSCOPICALLY LAB CLEANED! IT TAKES A GREAT DEAL OF STRENUOUS ROCK-BREAKING TO YIELD LARGE COMPLETE SPECIMENS LIKE THIS! Belemnites range from 2.9" to 2.25" in length $375 BEL002 INCLUDES DISPLAY BOX Actual Item - One Only |
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Belemnites
are extinct straight-shell members of the Cephalopoda that died out at
the end of the Cretaceous along with ammonites and dinosaurs. 