Boxed Crystal and Mineral Specimen Collection [11]

A large Goniatite specimen set on a textured matrix. 556 grams, 15.8 cm



From Atlas Mountains, Morocco, North Africa. From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

A pair of Charonosaurus sp. hadrosaur eggs on a matrix retaining evidence of the original leathery surface. 7.6 kg total, 26 x 14 cm



From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection, 1990s. Property of a Cambridgeshire gentleman.

Dinosaur eggs are known from about 200 sites around the world, the majority in Asia and mostly in terrestrial (non-marine) rocks of the Cretaceous Period. It may be that thick calcite eggshells evolved during the Cretaceous (145 to 65 million years ago). Most dinosaur eggs have one of two forms of eggshell that are distinct from the shells of related modern animal groups, such as turtles or birds; however, some eggs closely resemble the type of shells seen in present day ostrich eggs.

From Carcharocles megalodon polished, showing some good enamel. 369 grams, 11.9 cm



From Aurora, North Carolina, USA. From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent.

Carcharodon megalodon is regarded as one of the largest and most powerful marine predators in vertebrate history and likely had a profound impact on structuring of the marine communities. Fossil remains indicate that this giant shark reached a length of more than 16 metres (52 ft) and also affirm that it had a cosmopolitan distribution. Scientists suggest that in life it looked like a stockier version of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias.