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拍品专文
In the present Lot, one larger fish has struggled to eat its meal whole and fallen to the sea floor where both have been preserved in this death pose - a rare and important example of ichthyological behaviour being preserved in the fossil record. While individual bones occasionally survive in the bellies of fossilized creatures, it is rarer still to see one fossil eating another. The present specimen captures this extraordinary natural event; highlighting the impressive size Diplomystus could grow to, and serving as proof of the species' aggressive propensity to hunt and consume its own kind.
The diminuitive size of its prey could perhaps identify it as a Knightia sp., but one cannot rule out the possibility that the Diplomystus has been frozen in a cannibalistic feeding frenzy. Conversely, this scene is a moment of Pyrrhic victory for the smaller specimen.
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Overall in very good condition, noting that there a few areas where sections of the matrix have flaked off, the rest apparently stable. The larger fish displays fine detail but there is some loss of definition to the skull where the bones become intermingled with the specimen being consumed.
预计金额计算器
拍品 72拍卖编号 19887
GREEN RIVER FORMATION, WYOMING, USAA LARGE FOSSIL FISH CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF SWALLOWING ANOTHER估价: GBP 10,000 - 15,000