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Fossils For Sale News July 2009

Fossils for Sale — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:30:30 +0000

This is a new type of post from us, a regular quick summary of interesting fossil related stories from around the world wehave found that you may like to check out. Hope you like it!

Scientists Flesh Out Fossilized Tissues from Mummified Dinosaur (scientificamerican.com)
Australians scientists discover 3 new dinosaur species (cbc.ca)
Dinosaur mummy yields its secrets (news.bbc.co.uk)
Feathered dinosaur throws bird evolution into a flap (telegraph.co.uk)

Rhynchonellida Brachiopods Ordovicion Geodic Fossils Germany Block
US $4.99

Natural Baltic Amber with Mystery Fossil Insect 15x14x6mm E362
US $11.95

Collection Of Fossils
US $1.56

Rare Triassic Keichousaurus Hui Dinosaur Reptile Fossil
US $137.77

Nice fossil of lepidodendron tree bark
US $6.99

3 4 to 1 FOSSIL BULL OR HEMIPRISTIS SHARKS TEETH JEWELY CRAFTS
US $.99

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Fossils For Sale News July 2009

Trilobite Fossils For Sale

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 14:43:49 +0000

After the ammonite, trilobites must be most commonly known and collected fossils. The trilobite is part of an extinct group of arthropods that lived in the sea over 350 million years ago. Trilobites existed during the Palaeozoic era from the lower Cambrian until the late Permian periods. They have no modern forms-95% of all marine life became extinct in the Permian extinction event, though they are closely related to crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs. In appearance the nearest living equivalent is probably the wood louse or pill bug, though this is obviously no relative however distant. The segmented body is however rather reminiscent of the trilobite. The name trilobite derives from the fact that the body of a trilobite can be divided in length three ways into two outer lobes and the central lobe. Trilobites had compound eyes like many crustaceans and insects do today and in fact the eyes of the trilobite are the most ancient visual perception system known. Like woodlice trilobites had the ability to roll up tucking their tails underneath them for protection and indeed some have been found fossilised in this state. There were many thousands of species of trilobites and most are about 2 to 10 cm in length but a few species grew to nearly 1 m in length.

Trilobites are favourite fossil for collectors easily available in common forms although some varieties are rare and consequently much sought-after. Have a look to see what is currently available to buy below:

Eurypterid trilobite plus
US $95.00

PERFECT ASAPHIDAE FOSSIL TRILOBITE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SPECIMENMOROCCO
US $25.00

Trilobites Lot Flexicalimene Meiki Marocco
US $15.00

Doctor Fossil Appreciation Novelty Diploma Trilobite
US $9.95

5 Trilobite Fossil In Matrix Prepared Beautiful Paperweight Display Rock
US $8.25

very tiny enrolled Trilobite from Texas Pennsylvanian period
US $45.00

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Trilobite Fossils For Sale

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Fish Fossils

Fossils for Sale — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:16:26 +0000

Fish fossils are amongst the most popular fossils to collect. Ranging from pieces of the larger fish bones such as vertebrae, to complete skeletons or a ghostly outline of a fish in the rock, they are perennially popular with collectors and the curious. With such a wide range of types of fish fossil available, there is something for everyone from pocket money prices to the rare and consequently expensive! Have a look what we currently have on offer or come back soon when we are sure to have different items for you to check out.

If you are new to fossil collecting, you might like to check out our fossil buyer's guide to help you in your quest.

Small Green River Fish Fossil Plate 50 Million Years Old
US $6.99

Incredible lot of teeth of carnivorous fish of the Cretaceous
US $1.00

Fossil fish in stone
US $5.00

Fossil fish multiple death plate from Green River Wyoming Eocene
US $125.00

Fossil Fish death plate from Green River Wyoming multiple fish
US $125.00

one rare fossil fish from china
US $31.60

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Fish Fossils

What are fossils?

Fossils for Sale — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:43:21 +0000

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals and occasionally plants from many millions of years ago. Preserved remains of animals that are older than approximately 10,000 years are usually considered to be fossils, though a more strict interpretation would probably require them to be a few million years old. Fossils are found in layers of sedimentary rock and can vary in size from the very very small (such as fossilised bacteria) to the very large such as the skeletons of large animals including dinosaurs. Usually fossils that are found show only a portion of the individual animal that was fossilised. Normally it is only the hard portions of an animals body that are preserved in this way, for example their bones and teeth. Soft tissues tend not to survive and so it is very rare to find any fossil record of them. It's also possible to find fossilised traces of the animal for example footprints or even fossilised faeces - yes you can even get fossilised dinosaur poo!

So how do fossils actually form? There are a number of different processes and different types of fossilisation possible. As an example consider the fossilisation of a shellfish. When the animal dies it will slowly sink to the bottom of the sea and gradually become covered with sand or silt. The animal's body decomposes or is eaten by scavengers. As time passes the shell gets covered by more and more layers of silt gradually becoming deep and deeper under the sea floor. Over a period of many tens of thousands of years the shell gradually undergoes a series of changes. The chemicals in the shell gradually become replaced by minerals (frequently things like calcite, Iron or silica) coming from water that is passing through the shell and layers of silt. This type of fossilisation is called permineralisation. This carries on over many millions of years until eventually it results in the replacement of all of the shell with the minerals. This leaves the fossil with the shape of the original animals shell but now actually entirely composed of rock. Now we have a fossil buried deep in the rock under the seabed.

So how does it eventually come to be found? Over a period of many millions of years geological changes and movements in the Earth's crust result in what was originally the seabed being pushed up until it is no longer the seabed, but new dry land. More geological changes and the further action of the wind and rain (through a process called erosion) eventually lead to the rock bearing the fossil being exposed leaving the fossil ready to be found. The very last stage in its journey back to the light may be with the help of a geologists hammer!

As previously mentioned there are a number of ways an organism can become fossilised. We have already discussed permineralisation where the original soft tissues are replaced with minerals such as silica calcite or iron pyrite. Other ways organisms can become fossilised include carbonisation, unaltered preservation, recrystallisation and authigenic preservation. In unaltered preservation the organism is preserved as it originally was because it is protected for other effects and decomposition in some way. The classic example of this is an insect that becomes trapped in tree sap which over millions of years turns to Amber, preserving the insect in its entirety. Carbonisation (sometimes also called coalification) results in everything but carbon being removed from the organism. Authigenic preservation refers to fossils of molds or casts of organisms that themselves have entirely decomposed leaving just the cast preserved in the rock. These are fossil equivalents of the worm casts that you often find on a sandy beach. Finally recrystallisation describes the process where crystals form inside the structure of the organism. These crystals eventually replace it entirely - leaving just a crystallised copy.

The different types of mineral that replacing the original organisms structure in permineralisation often result in the final fossil having a distinctive appearance. For example in the case of an ammonite when fossilised these can show considerably different appearances depending on the mineral in question. The ammonites you usually find look like the rock they come from but it is also quite common to find pyritised ammonites which show a lovely golden metallic sheen.

Hopefully this is given you an idea of how fossils come to be and what they are. Have a look through the rest of the website or some of our recommended links to find out much more!