Arthropod - Mesolimulus watchi
SKU:
ITEM# CRUST-Solnhofen-0003
$2,250.00
$2,250.00
Late Jurassic - 165 mya
Solnhofen Formation
Bavaria, Germany
ITEM# CRUST - Solnhofen-0003
This is a museum-quality example of the arthropod Mesolimulus watchi from the Late Jurassic of Bavaria, Germany. Mesolimulus watchi is a member of the Order Xiphosurida, Family Mesolimulidae.
Mesolimulus watchi is an extinct genus of arthropod. The best known examples are found in Solnhofen limestone near Solnhofen, Bavaria, Germany. Originally assigned to the living genus Limulus, they are related to and look virtually identical to the modern horseshoe crab. Other species assigned to Mesolimulus have been recorded from Spain, Siberia, and possibly from Lebanon.
The unusual trackways left by these animals at Solnhofen were originally thought to have been made by birds or pterosaurs, since they included a cross-shaped marking comparable with the impression of a typical bird foot. Eventually they were correctly identified as arthropod footprints and named Kouphichnium walchi, as proved by some remarkable 'death traces' showing a Mesolimulus circling round on itself before dying. The last leg of more advanced horseshoe crabs is modified into a so-called 'pusher' which consists of four plates at the tip which push against the soft sediment rather like a snow-shoe. This was what left the unusual bird-like footprints.
Mesolimulus spent most of its time burrowing just beneath the surface of muddy lagoon bottoms in search of food, namely, worms and tiny mollusks. This horseshoe crab could also crawl out of the water for short periods of time, during mating activities at the waters edge. Despite their menacing appearance, the horseshoe crab was not a dangerous creature and its long tail was not a weapon, but instead, used as a rudder and to aid the crab in righting itself should it be accidentally flipped over.
Horseshoe crabs in general date to the Ordovician Period, more than 440 million years ago, and late Palezoic Euproops fossils indicate that they have changed little over the last 300 million years. Fossils preserved in Solnhofen limestone are unusual because soft body parts and skeletons are clearly represented.
This exceptionally large and detailed specimen is 100% complete and measures 8 inches long and 4 1/2 inches wide, on a matrix measuring 15 1/2 inches by 12 inches. The specimen is very robust and is in pristine condition! Nicely positioned on original matrix, it appears 3-dimensional and has great relief with the matrix. Horseshoe crabs are virtually unchanged from 165 million years ago to the present modern-day types that are found on the Atlantic shorelines.
Solnhofen Formation
Bavaria, Germany
ITEM# CRUST - Solnhofen-0003
This is a museum-quality example of the arthropod Mesolimulus watchi from the Late Jurassic of Bavaria, Germany. Mesolimulus watchi is a member of the Order Xiphosurida, Family Mesolimulidae.
Mesolimulus watchi is an extinct genus of arthropod. The best known examples are found in Solnhofen limestone near Solnhofen, Bavaria, Germany. Originally assigned to the living genus Limulus, they are related to and look virtually identical to the modern horseshoe crab. Other species assigned to Mesolimulus have been recorded from Spain, Siberia, and possibly from Lebanon.
The unusual trackways left by these animals at Solnhofen were originally thought to have been made by birds or pterosaurs, since they included a cross-shaped marking comparable with the impression of a typical bird foot. Eventually they were correctly identified as arthropod footprints and named Kouphichnium walchi, as proved by some remarkable 'death traces' showing a Mesolimulus circling round on itself before dying. The last leg of more advanced horseshoe crabs is modified into a so-called 'pusher' which consists of four plates at the tip which push against the soft sediment rather like a snow-shoe. This was what left the unusual bird-like footprints.
Mesolimulus spent most of its time burrowing just beneath the surface of muddy lagoon bottoms in search of food, namely, worms and tiny mollusks. This horseshoe crab could also crawl out of the water for short periods of time, during mating activities at the waters edge. Despite their menacing appearance, the horseshoe crab was not a dangerous creature and its long tail was not a weapon, but instead, used as a rudder and to aid the crab in righting itself should it be accidentally flipped over.
Horseshoe crabs in general date to the Ordovician Period, more than 440 million years ago, and late Palezoic Euproops fossils indicate that they have changed little over the last 300 million years. Fossils preserved in Solnhofen limestone are unusual because soft body parts and skeletons are clearly represented.
This exceptionally large and detailed specimen is 100% complete and measures 8 inches long and 4 1/2 inches wide, on a matrix measuring 15 1/2 inches by 12 inches. The specimen is very robust and is in pristine condition! Nicely positioned on original matrix, it appears 3-dimensional and has great relief with the matrix. Horseshoe crabs are virtually unchanged from 165 million years ago to the present modern-day types that are found on the Atlantic shorelines.
