Lot 1660
Important Offering Of The Very First Chordate Fossils. The 525 million year old fossils of Chengjiang are very important as being the earliest and best preserved of the early Cambrian fossils being 15 million years older than the famous Burgess Shale of Canada. Many types of small weird animals are found at Chengjiang, but perhaps the most important are the small group of fossils representing the earliest chordates which are the earliest ancestors of the vertebrates of which we are members. Haikouella is a chordate known from about 300 specimens. This small swimming animal was only about one inch long but had a head, gills, brain, notochord, heart and circulatory system and perhaps small eyes. This remarkable grouping of more than 20 animals in a mortality grouping is also important as it shows that Haikouella was a social animal living together in groups either for protection or perhaps as a group in hunting as they were predatory. Grouped together on a 5.5X3.5 inch slab, the gill slits which covered most of their body are very clear. Being soft bodied, any preservation is extraordinary. Finding a single fossil of Haikouella is rare, but such a grouping is a rare opportunity to study multiple specimens from the earliest site of the Cambrian explosion. This important grouping is housed in a 12 x 8 inch Riker mount for display.
Add $20 for domestic shipping.
Estimated Value $700 - 1,000.
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