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Illustration from
The Fossil Book
 

The left genalspine
org.fossil

Copyright Two Guys Fossils
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A Extraordinary Species
Terataspis  grandis
Age: Middle Devonian
Location: Erie County, New York
Formation: Williamsville Quarry, Onadaga Limestone
Size: 28"
Cost: $ 330
Item # tri/grandis-bsr/rg330
Sold only through Bay State Replicas & Two Guys Fossils

FYI: Illustration to the left was published in 1958 in the Fossil Book by Carroll & Mildred Fenton.

History of this Trilobite Specimen:
This species of trilobite as you can see has been known by Paleontologists and collectors alike for many years. There has never been a complete specimen ever found. However many segments of this trilobite have been found at the quarry and based on those fossils a reconstruction as you see here has been done by Mr. George Rennie of Ct. under the guidance and research by Dr. Copeland McClintock of Yale University Division of Invertebrate Paleontology. At This time this model is on display at the Peabody Museum at Yale. To date this trilobite is considered to be the Largest known to have lived on the North American Continent....

Terataspis grandis (Hall. 1861) ----Holotype NYSM 4543

Type species. Terataspis grandis is found in both the lower Onondaga
Limestone of western New York, particularly the former Fogelsanger Quarry in Williamsville, Erie County, and the upper Schoharie Formation of eastern New York. The large size and spiny nature of this trilobite make it one of the more spectacular ones.  Only one specimen is known from
New York  it is complete enough for a reasonable reconstruction. This specimen is upside down, and half, longitudinally, is missing. It is in the Buffalo Museum of Natural History, Buffalo, New York.  The drawing  shows where the genal spine appears on the exoskeleton. "Only one reasonably complete specimen is known from New York." Certainly a good number of pieces are known.


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An Artist idea of the type of marine scene that this trilobite lived in.
 

We just acquired this Magnificent Replica that is a must for any serious Trilobite Collector.


Click on image to get a bigger view.


Click on image to get a bigger view.

What was it ?
A Monster Euryterid
Species Name : Mixopterus
Age: Early Devonian
Location: Norway

Item # tri/mix-bsr/rg495

The Story
417 to 354 Million years ago this massive trilobite predator lived in the brackish waters of the ancient seas of what we now call Norway. To date we know there have been at least 10,000 species of trilobites identified but as we know none of them were predators . Many a trilobite species fell prey to this Giant.

Mixopterus, was a strange somewhat scorpion (like) animal. Very few specimens of this animal have been obtained, but this species is well known from the rocks of  Norway. This animal may have been capable of crawling out of the water and onto the Silurian landscape as evident by the 2 sets of legs near the head.

The Eurypterids were among the largest and most fearsome marine predators of the Paleozoic age. They could range in size from 10 centimeters ( 5 inches) up to 6 feet long making them the largest Arthropods to have lived on our planet. This species of arthropod made it's appearance during the Ordovician era some 425 million years ago and became extinct during the Permian period millions of years before the rise of the Dinosaur.

It is thought that some species of Eurypterids may have spent short intervals of time on land.
The fossils of these animals have been found on all the Continents and  have amazingly good preservation that the external structure of the body is the best known of all extinct animals. Because of the long tail and spine like appendage at the tip of the tail the Eurypterids have been called " Sea Scorpions " in fact they are closely related to land scorpions and other arachnids.

Mixopterus is the most scorpion-like of the Eurypterids, and possibly the ancestor to all scorpions. This species was a diverse group of spiny Eurypterids and show in the fossil rocks of Norway that they may have been amphibious.

The original fossil from which this cast was made is valued between $30,000 to $40,000 dollars, and  resides in the Paleontology Museum in Oslo,Norway.

 

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The Pre-Cambrian Super Predator

Species Name : Anomalocaris ( Model )
Age: Pre-Cambrian
Location: Burgess Shale, Canada
Size: 16" long x 8"wide x 5" high
$ 495
Item # invert/anomal495-bsr/rg

FYI:
This fearsome-looking beast is a sculpture of the largest known Burgess Shale animal. Some related specimens found in China reach a length of six feet! The giant limbs in front, which resemble shrimp tails, were used to capture and hold its prey. A formidable mouth on the undersurface of the head had a squared ring of sharp teeth that could close in like nippers to crack the exoskeleton of arthropods or other prey. With those large eyes and a body half flanked with a series of swimming lobes, this must have been an active, formidable predator! Anomalocaris is one of the most widely distributed of the Burgess Shale animals. In addition to Canada and China, specimens have been unearthed in Cambrian deposits in Greenland and Utah.

After death this large organism tended to disintegrate and fall apart into separate chunks, and completely intact fossil remains are very rare. Since these chunks resembled other kinds of simple animals (such as those shrimp-like front limbs), for a long time the separated pieces were interpreted to be individual animals. No one was able to recognize Anomalocaris for what it was until complete specimens began to be found.

CRINOIDS

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Crinoid Mortality Plate # 2
Species: Pentacrinus briareus
Age: Jurassic
Location: Whitby,England
Size: 24" x 22" plate.
Size: 18 complete crinoids.
Largest complete crinoid with stem is 8" long
Cost: $299
Item #  crin/whitby2-bsr/rg299
 

Please Read
History of this Plaque

This Multi crinoid  plate is one of the best if not the Best ever offered to the fossil collector that shows a multitude of crinoids that were fossilized some 150 million years ago in Whitby, England.

The original or real fossil plate is probably housed at the British Museum. The original fossil was found some 175 years ago.

This Replica appeared in the  Henry A. Ward catalog of fossil replicas of 1866. It was housed in the Ward collection of fossil replicas in Rochester NY.  until 1893 when it was displayed at the Chicago Exhibition ( similar to a World's fair ) with many of his other replicas.. At this time the Field Museum of Chicago bought most of all Henry Ward's collection. This plaque became one of the attractions on display at the museum. As the museum's collection grew in size this plaque was then stored away most likely in their basement for almost 100 years.

In 2002 we acquired this replica and now after 135 years in storage
this FANTASTIC CRINOID PLATE is now available again to fossil collectors, museums and schools etc. Each wall plaque is individually made to order and is made of polyeurathane resin and the weight is far less then the original replica.

Just my opinion but this is the type of fossil you dream about finding and adding to your collection. If you use your imagination you could just see them as still alive in the ocean some 150 million years ago.

*** HENRY WARD - was the founder of Ward's Scientific Co. of Rochester, NY. that is still in business today selling mineral and fossil kits among other scientific equipment to many schools within the USA.

AMMONITES & CEPHALOPODS

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This wonderful mortality plate has 5 species of ammonites.

Species:
 Placenticeras intercalare 8.5 inches across
Baculites compressus/cuneatus
Holoscaphites landesi
Jeletzkytes brevis
Rhaeboceras halli

Location:  They are from the Upper Cretaceous Age
Fox Hills Formation of South Dakota, USA

The largest ammonite, Placenticeras is 8.5 inches across.

NOTE: This specimen is a composite. It is meant to be a study of species which may be found loose or in the mud balls found along the Pierre Seaway. One of the theories on the formation of these mud balls is that they formed when portions of the bank eroded off and fell into the water. As it rolled, it picked up shells along the way to its final resting-place. This would also account for the random angles that the shells are found at within the mud balls when they are broken. Many mud balls have few or no shells within; while others have high concentrations of various sizes.

Ammonites and baculites belong to the Phylum Mollusca and the Class Cephalopoda. Cephalopod is Latin for head-foot. Cephalopods represent the largest, most intelligent and agile group of the Phylum Mollusca. They have a distinct head, large eyes, a funnel, and a circle of arms with a pair of grasping tentacles around the mouth or beak. The foot of the cephalopod has been modified into a funnel, which can be pointed in different directions. Water is taken into the mantle and expelled through the funnel. The cephalopod is then pushed in the opposite direction from which the funnel is pointing. All cephalopods, except for some octopi, have either an external shell in which the animal lives in the last chamber or an internal shell that is linearly chambered or reduced in size.

Ammonites are similar to today’s nautilus, and those of antiquity, in that they live in a chambered shell. As the animal grows it creates a new and larger chamber, closing off the old, smaller one. All the chambers are connected by a tube called a siphuncle which allowed the ammonite to rise or lower itself in the water. The chambers which the animal does not live in are called the phragmocone and are generally the parts which we find fossilized. Baculites were similar to ammonites except that after about one and a half coils the shell straightened out.

These cephalopods lived in a body of water known as the Pierre Seaway, which had depth ranging between 15 and 200 meters. This seaway ran through the middle of North America from Texas through Canada, including the states of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
 
Plate size : 12" x 9 1/2"
Cost: $ 600
Item # invert/5ammonites-600bsr/rg
 

INSECTS

JELLYFISH & CORALS