Specifications
Descripción
Locality: Parkinsoni Layers, Velpe area, Osnabrück region, Lower Saxony, Germany
Era: Middle Jurassic
Geological Age: 170.9-168.2 mya
Belemnites were squid-like cephalopods with ten arms, each lined with 30 to 50 pairs of hooks. Unlike modern squid, they had a hard internal skeleton, and the bullet-shaped part in the tail, called the rostrum or guard, is usually the only part found as a fossil. It is made of fibrous calcite and probably acted as a counterbalance to the head and arms when the animal swam.
The name comes from the Greek belemnon, a dart or javelin. In folklore the guards were believed to be thunderbolts flung down from the sky during storms, and in parts of Denmark they were placed in houses for protection against lightning and witchcraft.
This one of a kind Megatheutis giganteus fossil specimen is a long, strongly tapered belemnite guard with a dark brown to nearly black surface and a naturally weathered exterior. The piece has a heavy, solid look, with a broad proximal end narrowing to a sharp point, giving it the classic bullet-shaped profile that makes large belemnites so recognizable. Its size and preservation make it a striking display fossil, especially for collectors who appreciate clean, standalone marine cephalopod specimens.
Megateuthis is recognized as one of the largest belemnite genera known, and these giant Jurassic guards represent the hard internal remains of an extinct squid-like cephalopod. Historically, material of this type was described by Schlotheim in the early 19th century under Belemnites giganteus, and later work placed these giant forms within Megateuthis. That history is part of what makes specimens from the Parkinsoni Layers especially appealing to fossil collectors.
Quantity: 1pc
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