Lot 915
Rare Permian Age Primitive Reptile. Captorhinus aguti was one of the very first reptiles that laid its eggs on dry land (amniote) and was an early ancestor of synapsids and other reptiles. It known as a stem reptile and other reptiles and mammal like reptiles branched off from it. Eventually, one of these branches evolved into the Archosaurs that survived the Permian extinction and gave rise to the dinosaurs much later. This impressive looking mounted specimen is a composite as are all of the mounted Captorhinus skeletons. The bones are carefully cleaned, matched and assembled to yield an impressive specimen such as this 12.5 inch long museum quality specimen having only about 15 percent restoration mostly on the ribs and some cracks in the skull. The 270 million year old bones are found in a quarry in the Arroyo formation near Lawton, Oklahoma and represent a catastrophe that killed hundreds of these reptiles at one time. Much work was done to carefully clean, size and mount such a complete specimen as this. The detail is excellent particulary the skull which has been prepared open to show the rows of tiny sharp teeth and also the mysterius small round hole in the center of the skull which paleontologist speculate may have allowed sunlightto enter the skull to the pineal gland. Another feature of the preparation is that the ribs have been cemented to the matrix adding stability to the very delicate bones and still keeping a very natural appearance that the large reptile is crawling over the matrix.
Add $75.00 for domestic shipping.
Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,000.
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| Realized $2,300 |
