#fossilera

Just got in a big shipment of brilliant ammolite from Alberta including this amazing, 14” wide, complete ammonite. Getting it all photographed today and it will be up for sale on FossilEra.com shortly. Ammolite is the trade name for an opal-like gemstone composed of fossil ammonite shells.

fossilera

We just got in a fresh stock of Petoskey Stones from Michigan. These stones are actually 350 million year old, fossil rugose coral found along the beaches of Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, as well as in rock quarries in the area. Like the fossilization process of other corals, Petoskey stones formed when the polyp of the coral and its openings filled with sand and silt as it petrified. Over time the soft tissue decayed and the calcium carbonate “skeleton” of the colony was replaced by silica, calcite, and other various minerals forming a fossil. The rocks containing this fossil coral were exposed and broken up into smaller pieces by glaciation. These fragments of fossil coral subsequently became rounded and polished due to the action of both glaciers and waves on the lake shores.

A beautiful, zoned, green fluorite crystal on a matrix of druzy quartz. This particular specimen sold almost as soon as we posted it, but we have a number other pieces still available at FossilEra from the same lot.

Xiphactinus was a huge, predatory fish that lived during the Late Cretaceous. It would have been a veracious predator, growing 15-20 feet long. When alive, the fish would have resembled a gargantuan, fanged tarpon. Fossils of this monster fish can be found in the Smoky Hills Chalk of Kansas. This is a spectacular 10" long, fossil jaw that just arrived and is now posted for sale on FossilEra. Just check out those fangs!

Gorgeous enamel and razor sharp serrations on this 6.35" long, fossil Megalodon tooth. I really like how the enamel color transitions from tan/grey near the edges to a deep blue in the center of the blade.

This is a nicely preserved, 5.1" long Cockerellites (Priscacara) liops fish from the famous 18 inch layer of the Green River Formation. It was collected from Lindgren Quarry near Kemmerer, Wyoming.

50 million years ago, in the Eocene, these fish thrived in Fossil Lake, which was fed by Uinta and Rocky Mountain highlands. The anoxic conditions at the bottom of Fossil Lake slowed bacterial decomposition, prevented scavengers from disturbing corpses, and most interestingly, suffocated creatures that ventured into the oxygen-starved aquatic layer. The result is a miraculous exhibition of Eocene biota in a subtropical aquatic community within sycamore forests teeming with creatures such as freshwater stingrays, dog-sized horses, menacing alligators, early flying bats, and one of the first primates.