Huge 7.85" Fossil Dragonfly (Cymatophlebia) - Solnhofen Limestone

Huge Fossil Dragonfly (Cymatophlebia) - Solnhofen Limestone #280408

This is a large and beautiful 7.85" wide fossil dragonfly (Cymatophlebia longialata) from the Upper Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone of Germany. Complete fossil dragonflies are rare finds in this formation and there are several species present. This one is nicely detailed and presented on a 10.4 x 8.1" slab of limestone.

It comes with an acrylic-metal display stand.

There are a couple of repaired cracks through the rock, one of which runs through/along the body of the dragonfly, requiring some gap fill restoration.

The Solnhofen limestone is a famous Upper Jurassic lagerstätte in Germany. It is where one of the most famous fossils of all time, Archaeopteryx, was found. The fine-grained limestone makes excellent building material, which has led to heavy quarrying over the past two centuries. In the process, some spectacular fossils were unearthed, including fossil dragonflies, fish, pterosaurs, shrimp, horseshoe crabs, and many more.

This area represents an ancient archipelago at the edge of a sea. Due to high salt content, the lowest levels in the water column could not support much life and were largely devoid of oxygen. This lack of oxygen and scavengers on the bottom of the sea led to beautiful fossil preservation.