Fossils

Subcategories

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  Museum pieces

  This category contains the most beautiful pieces that we currently offer. The pieces that you find here could easily be exhibited in a museum. Sometimes we sell some pieces on commission.

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  Mammoth and Ice Age

  After the last ice age that ended about 10,000 years ago, many bones were left behind. These bones can now be found as fossils on the seabed and sand pits near large rivers. In Europe, during the last ice age, animals such as Mammoths, Reindeer, Cave Bears, Cave Hyenas, Steppe Bison, Wolly Rinoceroses, Ek and Pimeval horses roamed the area.

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  Mosasaurs and Dinosaurs

  The Dinosaurs emerged in the Triassic period. They were particularly numerous in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. At the end of the Cretaceous period, most Dinosaurs became extinct due to a large meteorite impact in Mexico.  Only the flying dinosaurs survived, and today's birds are descended from them. Mosasaurs do not formally belong to the dinosaurs, but they were the top predators of the sea.

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  Amphibians

  Within the group of amphibians, frogs and toads are the group with the most species.  In addition, the group of amphibians also includes salamanders and caecilians. Fossils of these animals are rare.

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  Ammonites

  An ammonite is a chambered shell of an extinct squid-like animal. The name comes from the Egyptian god Ammon. These animals swam backwards in the sea. They became extinct along with the Dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period.

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  Sharks and Rays

  Sharks and Rays belong to the cartilaginous fish. Cartilage fossilizes poorly, but the teeth of these animals fossilize very well. In addition, sharks often change their teeth during their lives because new teeth grow in their rotating jaws. A shark therefore loses many teeth during its life. Shark teeth are pointed and sharp. The teeth of rays are a kind of ribbed chewing plates.

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  Megalodon

  The name Megalodon means big tooth. The teeth of this shark are among the largest fossil shark teeth that have been found. The Megalodon is a type of mackerel shark that could grow to a length of 18 meters, according to estimates.  This shark appeared around 18 million years ago in the Miocene epoch and became extinct around the end of the Pliocene epoch.

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  Plants and Amber

  Plant life on land developed much later than life in the sea. On land, lichens and algae were the first to appear in the Silurian period. The Carboniferous period is characterized by overwhelming plant growth. Many coal deposits were formed worldwide. This coal contains many plant fossils. Flowering plants that are now the most common plants did not develop until the Cretaceous period.

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  Marine Mammals

  Marine mammals are found in the sea but the evolved from land mammals. The most common marine mammals are dolphins, whales, manatees, and seals. Fossil bones of these animals regularly emerge from marine deposits.

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  Fish

  Fish belong to the Vertebrates. The oldest known fish fossils date from the Lower Cambrian period. The first fish belong to the jawless fish. At the beginning of the Silurian period, the jawed fish appeared. In the Devonian, the armored fish with external skin plates for protection emerged.  The Bony fish (Actinopterygii) and cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) also appeared on the scene. The teeth, possible skin plates and vertebrae are regularly found as fossils. Complete fish are known from many places.

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  Crustaceans

  The crustaceans or Crustacea belong to the Arthropods. Among others , crabs, lobsters, shrimps, ostracods and barnacles belong to this group. They occur as fossils from the Cambrian period.

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  Trilobites

  Trilobites belong to the arthropods. These animals lived in the sea from the Cambrian to the Permian period when they became extinct. The name 'trilobite' is derived from the fact that the armor is made up of three parts or 'lobes': the head, the body and the tail.

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  Sea Urchins

  Sea urchins (Echinoidea) belong to the echinoderms. Like other Echinoderms, they have a five-ray symmetry. The body consists of fused calcareous plates. The spines were mobile and were attached to the calcareous plates.  Regular sea urchins are completely five-rayed symmetrical and have their anus on the top and their mouth on the bottom. Irregular sea urchins often have their mouth and anus both on the bottom and are irregular in shape.

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  Bivalves

  The bivalves belong to the molluscs. The valves of the shell itself are asymmetrical, but the left and right valves are in many cases roughly each other's mirror image.

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  Gastropods

  Gastropod is the scientific name for snail. They belong to the molluscs. Gastropods appear in the fossil record from the middle Cambrian period and have increased greatly in diversity from the upper Cretaceous period.

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  Brachiopods

  Brachiopods are shells of which the two valves are different. The valve itself is symmetrical. One of the valves contains an opening through which a foot protruded, with which the animal could attach itself to the bottom.

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  Crinoids

  Sea lilies or Crinoids are marine animals, even though the name suggests otherwise. Crinoids are currently rare in shallow water, but in the past they were as common as starfish and sea urchins. They usually lived on the seabed where they attached themselves to the bottom with a stalk. Some species were free-swimming.

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  Corals and Bryozoans

  In tropical and subtropical shallow sea deposits fossil corals are very often found. The hard calcareous skeletons of the coral colonies fossilize very well. Corals are colonies of small polyp-like animals. Through asexual division entire colonies are formed from one coral calyx, which can build up entire reefs. Although most corals form colonies, solitary corals also occur. Bryozoans are similar to corals because they also form colonies with a calcareous skeleton. However, the structure is different and they belong to a separate group.

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  Belemnites

  A Belemnite is a fossil part of the internal skeleton of a squid-like animal that resembled a squid. Belemnites originated during the Triassic period and became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period. They are most common in deposits from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

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  Sponges

  The sponges or Porifera are primitive multicellular animals that attach to the seabed. They filter the seawater to extract food particles. In some fossil sponges you can still see the outlet of the sponge where the filtered water came out.

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  Insects

  Insects are the first group in the evolution of animals on Earth that actively started flying. Insects have an exoskeleton of chitin. Most insects have a three-way division: The head, middle section and abdomen.

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  Fossils to prepare

  Preparing to exposing a fossil yourself is a lot of fun. With the help of a hammer and chisels and some dentist tools you can usually get a long way. A brush should also not be missing to clean the fossils every now and then during preparation.

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  Replicas

  Some fossils are very rare or expensive. That is why it is nice that certain fossils are also available as replicas.

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  Miscelaneous Fossils

  In this group you can find the remaining fossil groups including the Foraminifera, Birds, other Reptiles, Graptolites and many more.