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LOT 2445
Natural History - Knightia Fossil Fish
EOCENE PERIOD, CIRCA 58 MILLION YEARS B.P.
5 3/4 in. (234 grams, 14.4 cm).
The Knightia alta fossil fish on a rectangular matrix. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom Wyoming (Green River Formation), USA.
Acquired during 1980s.
From the Pradi Collection, Boston, U.S.A.
Seasonally some 58 million years ago, in the Green River region of Wyoming, torrential rains fell in the mountains. They flowed down the mountain sides, forming wide shallow lakes in the valley below. During the dry season, these lakes would dry up due to evaporation (as happens in certain parts of Africa today). Millions of fish died in this short period of time. This climatic cycle happened over a 20-thousand-year period. Layer upon layer of mud entombed all these fish. At a much later date, volcanic activity uplifted this area to expose the fossils.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Natural History - Fossil Ammonites in Matrix
Jurassic Period, 199.3-190.8 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £85
Set with several specimens of Galaticeras jacksoni, Promicroceras planicosta and juvenile Epophioceras. 245 grams, 86 mm
From Black Ven, Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK, 1988. Ex UK collection. -
Natural History - Polished Goniatite Plate
Upper Devonian Period, 370 million years B.P.Sold for (Inc. bp): £39
The medium sized Goniatite sp. set on a textured matrix and polished to show internal gas chambers. 1.24 kg, 21 cm
Ex Cambridgeshire, UK, collection. -
Natural History - Chinese Nantan Meteorite
Fell 1516 A.D., found 1958 A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £78
An amorphous nickel iron Nantan meteorite (1AB), cleaned. 3.58 grams, 22 mm
Found Nantan, Nandan County, Guangzi Region, China. Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher.
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. In 2000, pieces of the Nantan meteorite were incorporated into an art installation for The Bull Ring Shopping Centre in Birmingham, England. Today, a plaque commemorates the occasion.
