Natural History - Fossil Mosasaur Tooth and Fish Bone Display

Cylindroteuthis sp.; held in a collector's tray. 126 grams total, 19 cm



From Oxford, UK. Ex UK collection.

With a composition of 92.35% iron and 6.96% nickel, classified as a nickel iron meteorite (111CD). 34.7 grams, 46 mm



From Nantan Nandan County, Guangxi Region, China. From an old Lincoln, UK, collection.

The Nantan meteorite fell in 1516, as recorded in ancient Chinese texts; the fall exploded during descent which resulted in a shower of many individual iron meteorites over an area some 28km x 8km in Nantan County, Guangxi, China. Classified as an iron meteorite; 111CD Course Octohedrite, the composition is approximately 92% iron, 6% nickel and contains more than ten other minerals including kamacite, taenite, dominate, plessite, schreibersite, triolite, graphite and others.

Displaying a Knightia alta specimen. 348 grams, 14.2 cm



From Wyoming, Green River Formation, U.S.A. Acquired during the 1980s. From the Pradi Collection, Boston, U.S.A.

In southwest Wyoming (and parts of Colorado and Utah) in the Green River Formation are found some of the world's most outstanding specimens of fossil fish. The Green River system was composed of three lakes: Lake Ulinta, Lake Gosiute and Fossil Lake. These Eocene Lakes lay in a series of intermountain basins formed by geological events that uplifted the Rocky Mountains during the early Tertiary time. The climate was much different from the desert-like climate of this area today. Both the fauna (crocodiles, alligators, boa constrictors and some subtropical fish families) and the flora (such as large palm trees) indicate a climate much like that found along the Gulf Coast today. Large amounts of ash found in the sediments indicate that volcanoes were particularly active at this time.