Fossil squid
While we are all familiar with some of the hard shells of these ancient creatures from the fossil record such as ammonites and belemnites, finding one with its soft parts preserved as well as this is almost as rare as hen's teeth. When they dies and sank to the bottom of the sea or were washed onto an ancient shore by the waves, any passing carnivore would take a bite or two, and they were finished off by the usual bacteria that promote decay. This specimen, nearly 30 cm long died in an ancient anoxic lagoon by a Jurassic shore in what is now Germany some 150 million years ago. The lack of oxygen allowed preservation of the soft parts in what is now famed as one of the premier fossil sites in the world, the Solnhoffen lithographic limestone (so called because pictures were etched onto its surface for printing). This formation is renowned for the discovery of the first specimen of archaeopteryx, complete with its feathers, that sparked off a still ongoing debate about the evolution of birds from dinosaurs.
Loz
Image credit: LGF Foundation
