EXCEPTIONAL FOSSILS AND NATURAL HISTORY
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| 8108. EARLIEST HUMAN TOOLS. Paleolithic, England, Twydall, c. 300,000 years BP. Flaked chert or flint tool with Twydall find number 1518 in India ink. 4.25 x 3.25 inches, a nice large example. These stone tools from Twydall are considered to be the earliest evidence of human tool making in Britain. Rare and of great historical importance. $2500 estimate. |  |
| 8073. EIGHT EGG OVIRAPTOR NEST, One of the Most Famous and Important Dinosaurs. One of the most desirable of dinosaur eggs belongs to the strange theropod, Oviraptor. The name Oviraptor means egg stealer and when first found near the nest, they were thought to have died trying to eat the eggs. An amazing discovery in 1995 of a near complete Oviraptor actually sitting on a nest made it apparent that the Oviraptor was actually brooding the eggs. Embryonic bones found in some of these black eggs confirmed that they were Oviraptor young. Oviraptors were about 8 feet long, had a toothless beak and were one of the most bird-like of non-avian theropods. The museum quality, 8-egg nest comes from the Nanxiang Basin, Guandong Province of China and is about 70 million years old. All of the eggs display their original unhatched shape, as well as 50%-80% of their original black shell with the surface texture typical of raptor eggs. As this nest beautifully displays, the eggs were laid side by side in two layers. The 7 inch long eggs reside in their original 18 x 10 inch red sandstone matrix that has been flattened on the bottom for easy display or they can be displayed standing upright. As no more dinosaur eggs are currently coming out of China, this may be an important opportunity to acquire a museum-quality clutch of eggs. Individual eggs sell for $1,000 or more and nests are much much rarer. Weight is 47 pounds. $8000 estimate. |  |
| 8074. EXCEPTIONALLY RARE 140 MILLION YEAR OLD FOSSIL BIRD. In the last several years, the most spectacular dinosaur fossil finds of the century have come out of China, particularly the Liaoning Province. Along with the feathered dinosaurs are also found some of the oldest birds in the fossil records. This small 5¼ inch primitive bird, Liaoxiornis delicatus, dates from the late Jurassic period and only Archaeopterix from Germany is older at 150 million years. This remarkable, virtually complete bird is remarkable in the details of its preservation. Birds have light, delicate bones that rarely fossilize at all. Due to an enormous volcanic eruption 140 million years ago, this bird was killed by the gases and quickly buried in volcanic ash, thus preserving it intact. There are dark feather impressions at the back of the head and neck, as well as beneath the right wing and at the bottom of its body. The all-important features that identify it as one of the most primitive birds are present as well: two small sharp teeth at the end of its beak, as well as claws at the ends of its wings. Comes displayed in a 9 x 7 inch Ryker mount to protect the soft stone matrix of the compressed volcanic ash layer. A most important and impressive fossil. Weight is 1.1 pounds. $7000 estimate. |  |
| 8075. EXCEPTIONAL DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS - 200 Million Years Old. These footprints of two different kinds of early dinosaurs resulted from these dinosaurs walking on a muddy stretch of beach over 200 million years ago near Lincoln Park, New Jersey. These therapods (meat-eating dinosaurs) lived more than 130 million years before T-Rex and were the top predators of their day but much smaller in size. Dinosaurs typically started out small and grew larger over time as the "arms race" between plant eaters and meat eaters intensified. The excellent, well-defined, large theropod footprint measures 8 x 3 inches and even shows some of the texture of the skin on the bottom of the foot and the large claw impressions on the ends of the toes. This type of print has the name Grallator cunceatus, although what the dinosaur was who left it is undetermined. Very few dinosaur bones have been found in New Jersey at this time. The fainter, smaller footprint is 4 ½ x 3 inches from a different species of dinosaur, also unknown. The large Grallator footprint is aesthetically centered on a 17 x 9 inch gray slate matrix and is a contrasting black in color. Weight is 5½ pounds. $4000 estimate. |  |
| 8076. RARE GOMPHOTHERE PARTIAL JAW WITH 5 INCH CUSPED TOOTH. The lovely 8 inch long white jaw section is perfectly contrasted with the 5 inch long tooth which has its intact enamel colored shades of brown and gray. Also, the roots of a second tooth are present on the jaw. This rare, museum-quality fossil is 15-20 million years old, from Gansu Province, China. It is from a strange member of the elephant family known as Gomphotheres. Some Gomphotheres had strange shovel-shaped lower tusks used to drag up food. Gomphotheres, as well as Mastodons, had very different types of teeth from all modern elephants. Mastodons and Gomphothere teeth have paired, domed cusps which are placed all along both the upper and lower teeth. This allowed them to chew their food better than modern elephants, which have flat teeth. This specimen makes an impressive display item. Weight is 4 pounds. $4000 estimate. |  |
| 8077. CHOICE 150 MILLION YEAR OLD FOSSIL CRUSTACEAN. This 6½ inch lobster-like crustacean, known as Mecochirus longimanatus, is unusual in that it has an unbelievably long pair of front walking legs with pincers. They are 4 inches long, over half the total length of this crustacean. Mecochirus used these legs to raise itself out of the sand and swing its body backwards. Housed in a Ryker mount for display. This fabulous specimen is from the famous Solnhofen, Germany fossil bed. Solnhofen is famous as the site of the first bird, Archaeopteryx, from the Jurassic period. Weight with case is 4 pounds 6 ounces. $2000 estimate. |  |
| 8078. RARE PSITTACOSAURUS DINOSAUR SKULL. The Earliest Ancestor of Triceratops. 7 x 5 inch skull from the very important 127 million year old dinosaur Psittacosaurus (parrot lizard). It is important because it was the first of the ceratopsians, such as its more famous ancestor, Triceratops. This nearly complete skull was found in the famous volcanic layer near Liaoning northern China. Many strange dinosaurs have been excavated in Liaoning, some with feathers. The parrot-like beak, large eyes, fenestrae (which grew in later ceratopsians to become large frills in the back of the skull), and horn-like bones at the ends of its cheeks, all are very clear on this highly desirable specimen. Very rare dinosaur skull. Much better than photo. $2800 estimate. |  |
| 7963. RARE VERY LARGE DINOSAUR FOOTPRINT, United States. c. 213-144 million B.P. Size: 18-1/2"L. x 15-1/2"W in frame. Thick slab of gray shale having a deep impression of a large central three-toed foot print of the Triassic theropod Eubrontes giganteus, (print size: 15"L. x 10-1/2"W.). Mounted in an old wood frame, suitable for hanging. Exterior of print has a highlighted outline. Exc. cond. Tracks of this large size are extremely rare. Provenance: Collected by Dr. Donald Baird in 1965, Ex. Phillips Auctions, 1995, Private N.Y. collection. $17,500 estimate. |  |
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