Natural History - Boxed Cut and Polished Chiastolite Mineral Specimen Group [7]

Comprising six halves, each showing an internal cavity and attractive banding. 749 grams total, 51-78 mm



From Brazil. Ex Mineral Imports, London, UK. Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd (Gregory's).

Comprising a pair of Prognathodon sp. teeth with roots on an matrix. 863 grams total, 12-13 cm



From in the phosphate mine region, Khouribga, Morocco, North Africa. From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

The Mosasaur is an extinct, large marine reptile dinosaur with a snake-like body, long snout and paddle-like limbs. Found worldwide, they competed with other well-known sea predators of the Late Cretaceous, such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, for food, existing primarily on a diet of ammonoids, cuttlefish and fish.

A near complete Charonosaurus sp. hadrosaur egg, retaining the leathery surface, and possibly showing the internal remains at one corner. 1.73 kg, 14.1 cm



From Xixia Basin, Henan Province, China. Ex Eons Ago, USA, circa 2008. Prepared by Christine Coyle, U.S.A. From the private collection of Mr A Hills, Kent, UK.

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.