A Fossilized Dragon-Damselfly, Positive and Negative Plates
Lot Closed
December 3, 07:12 PM GMT
Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
A Fossilized Dragon-Damselfly, Positive and Negative Plates
Stenophlebia latreilli
Late Jurassic, approx. 152 million years ago
Solnhofen, Bavaria, Germany
Wingspan 4½ inches (11.4 cm). Plates measure 12¼ by 7½ by ½ inches (31.5 x 19.5 x 1 cm). Together 5 pounds (2.3 kg).
This Stenophlebia latreilli fossil plate displays details of the head and body, with venation delicately preserved in its wings.
152 million years ago—in what is now south central Germany—a cluster of islands were home to shrimp, fish, jellies, insects, horseshoe crabs, pterosaurs, the famous “first bird”, Archaeopteryx, and the dragon-damselfly offered here, Stenophlebia. Routinely, the small lagoons and intertidal pools of these areas between Laurasia and Gondwanaland would dry up to expose sticky, anaerobic mud, a perfect medium for trapping and preserving records of this diverse Jurassic ecosystem.
Today, the limestone found Solnhofen, Bavaria, is ideal for fabricating lithographic plates and—as evidenced by this beautifully preserved Stenophlebia specimen—producing highly detailed imprints of soft bodied organisms.