online store
Sold

Large Fossil Horseshoe Crab With Trackway - 8.25”

This piece has been sold, but we may have a similar item available. Contact us online to make an inquiry.

  • This is a superb example of a large fossil Horseshoe Crab (Mesolimulus walchi) from the famous lithographic limestones of Solnhofen, in southern Germany, that live during the age of the dinosaurs in the mid Jurassic 150 million years ago.
  • There is a distinct trackway from the original position of the horseshoe crab on its back to its present upright position. 
  • Unlike many of the fossil from Solnhofen, this plate is not broken and re-glued. Matrix measures 21.25 inches (54 cm) by 20.75 inches ( 53 cm). The fossil measures 8.25 inches long (21 cm). The total weight 29 Lb 4 oz or 13.4 grams. 
  • Horseshoe crabs are from a unique group that is in fact related to spiders and scorpions, not crustaceans (despite the resemblance). 
  • This specimen was found in the same region (Solnhoffen, Germany) where Archaeopteryx - the feathered dinosaur - was found in 1861. 
  • stand not included