Natural History - Mixed Fossil and Mineral Specimen Group

A Rastellum carinatum fossil bivalve. 121 grams, 66 mm



From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection. Property of a Cambridgeshire, UK, gentleman.

Rastellum carinatum specimens have wide, angled ribs that have led to it being called the 'denture clam'; the zig-zag join between the two shells stopped coarse dirt and debris entering the shell and damaging its soft body. Like modern oysters, it lived in shallow coastal waters including the interstitial zone and fed on food particles that it filtered out of the sea water.

A nickel-iron meteorite (IAB). 31.4 grams, 27 mm



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

A crater field of roughly 26 craters was found in the vicinity of this crater, which is estimated to date to 4-5 thousand years BP. The age of the meteorite itself is thought to be c.4.5 billion years, formed as part of the development of this solar system. The largest two fragments, the 30.8 ton Gancedo and 28.8 ton El Chaco, are among the heaviest meteorite masses ever recovered on Earth. In 1576, the governor of a province in Northern Argentina commissioned the military to search for a large mass of iron, which it was believed the local people claimed had fallen from the sky and which they used for their weapon production. The expedition discovered a large mass of metal which was assumed to be an iron mine and brought back a few samples, which were described as being of unusual purity. Following the legends, in 1774 Don Bartolomé Francisco de Maguna rediscovered the iron mass. He himself did not believe that the stone had fallen from the sky and assumed that it had formed by a volcanic eruption. However, he sent the samples to the Royal Society of London. In 1990 it became protected by law.

Meteorite in a cuboid capsule; Vaca Muerta. 1.67 grams, 20 mm



Found in Chile's Atacama desert while filming an episode of the TV series Meterorite Men. Acquired from Steve Arnold, co-star of 'Meteorite Men'. Ian Wilkinson collection, Nottinghamshire, UK. Accompanied by a authenticity card signed by Steve Arnold.