Natural History - Quartz Crystal on Matrix Display Specimen

A large section of Charonosaurus sp. hadrosaur egg nest on matrix, including three eggs each retaining some of the original shell surface. 17.3 kg, 43 cm



From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000. From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

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.

Two front leg bone sections from the Dinosaur Deltadromeus agilis; one repaired. 389 grams total, 75-86 mm



From the Kem-Kem Basin, Morocco, North Africa. From an old German paleontological collection.

Deltadromeus meaning 'delta runner' has extraordinarily delicate and long limbs making it one of the fastest dinosaurs to have existed. This meat-eating dinosaur is an early off-shoot of the theropod line on northern continents that gave rise to Tyrannosaurus and the raptor Deinonychus.

Priscacara liops fish in rectangular matrix. 613 grams, 18.5 cm



From Wyoming (Green River Formation), USA. From a Lincolnshire, UK, collection.

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.