1.8" Cretaceous Fossil Squid - Soft-Bodied Preservation

This is a rare, 1.8" fossilized squid (unidentified species) from the famous Lebonese lagerstätten with soft bodied preservation. It's Upper Cretaceous in age and comes from a quarry near Hakel, Lebanon.

Soft bodied preservation such is this is extremely rare in the fossil record, the the Lebonese lagerstätten is famous for it. These rare cephalopod fossils have been the subject of several research papers and news articles over the past few years. They compared the preserved organic granules in the ink sacks with the structures in modern squid ink and found them to be identical. In fact by dissolving the graduals in an ammonia solution they were even able to write with it. I've linked several of the papers and articles below.

  • A NEW LOOK AT FOSSIL CEPHALOPODS - Neal Larson, Robert Morton, Peter Larson & UWE Bergman

  • SQUIDS: THE CRETACEOUS INK WELL

  • NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - Fossil Ink Sacs Yield Jurassic Pigment - A First


  • The Upper Cretaceous, Lebonese lagerstätten yields some of the most exquisitely preserved fossil fish in the world. The deposit represents a shelf that is estimated to have been 270m below the surface of the sea. Over 80 genre are currently described, with many more still awaiting description. These beautiful fossils have been quarried near Byblos, Lebanon for well over a century and include sharks, rays, shrimp, ray-finned fishes and more.

    A photo of the quarry at Hakel, Lebanon
    A photo of the quarry at Hakel, Lebanon

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    DETAILS
    SPECIES
    Unidentified Squid
    LOCATION
    Hakel, Byblos, Lebanon
    FORMATION
    Sannine Formation
    SIZE
    1.8" long
    ITEM
    #48589
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