Polished Fossil Goniatite Pair

From Carcharocles megalodon polished, showing some good enamel. 78 grams, 79 mm



Acquired on the UK art market before 2000. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.

Carcharodon megalodon is regarded as one of the largest and most powerful marine predators in vertebrate history and likely had a profound impact on structuring of the marine communities. Fossil remains indicate that this giant shark reached a length of more than 16 metres (52 ft) and also affirm that it had a cosmopolitan distribution. Scientists suggest that in life it looked like a stockier version of the great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias.

A large Cambropallas telesto trilobite on a textured matrix. 1.52 kg, 24 cm



From Atlas Mountains, Morocco, North Africa. From a Cambridgeshire, UK, collection.

A cut and polished section of fossilised tree. 1.26 kg, 11.5 cm

Fine condition.

From the Isle of Portland, Dorset, UK. Acquired 1950s-1960s. From an old Bristol paleontological collection.

At the base of the Purbeck Formation in Dorset is a layer of rock containing fossil trees that have now been silicified. The trees grew around a saline lagoon that occupied this area towards the end of the Jurassic period. The dominant tree was a large conifer that was adapted to living in what was then a climate of hot, arid summers and warm, wet winters. The growth rings in the wood indicate that a highly seasonal environment prevailed in Southern England during the late Jurassic period. The trees were drowned by the rising waters of the lagoon and many have been preserved in their original positions of growth. At this time Dorset was situated at the same latitude as present-day Malta.