Appraising of Lazarus: 200 million-year-old fossil of a FISH is set to sell for £50,000 at auction next month

  • The rare fossil will go on sale at an auction house on November 24 in Sussex  
  • The fossil is a type of fish which belongs to a group dubbed 'Lazarus' 
  • It got the name after being rediscovered in 1938 after it was thought to have been extinct for 70 million years  

An ancient fish which lived 200 million years ago is set to sell fro £50,000 at an auction next month. 

The fossil  of a coelacanth fish belongs to the Lazarus taxon and is in extremely good condition. 

Experts say the specimen is extremely rare and it is the headline item of a sale focusing on ancient items, including the skull of a woolly rhinoceros.

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An ancient fish which lived 200 million years ago is set to sell fro £50,000 at an auction next month. The fossil of a coelacanth fish belongs to the Lazarus taxon and is said to be in extremely good condition

An ancient fish which lived 200 million years ago is set to sell fro £50,000 at an auction next month. The fossil of a coelacanth fish belongs to the Lazarus taxon and is said to be in extremely good condition

The biblical name of this fish comes from its rediscovery in 1938 after it was thought it had been extinct for 70 million years. 

However, a specimen appeared, freshly caught, in an open-air market in South Africa in 1938. 

Live specimens of the creature were later found, leading the species to be given the Lazarus moniker due to its miraculous rediscovery and reappearance. 

The rare 200 million-year-old version is set to be auctioned off at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst, West Sussex on November 24. 

The ancient artefact comes from fossil grounds around Solnhofen in Germany where many well-preserved creatures have been found.

The biblical name of this fish comes from its rediscovery in 1938 after it was thought it had been extinct for 70 million years

The biblical name of this fish comes from its rediscovery in 1938 after it was thought it had been extinct for 70 million years

As well as the Lazarus fish, a smattering of other items along the theme of 'evolution' are set to go on sale, including a giant Japanese spider crab, estimated to fetch £8,000-£12,000 (pictured) and a woolly rhinoceros skull

As well as the Lazarus fish, a smattering of other items along the theme of 'evolution' are set to go on sale, including a giant Japanese spider crab, estimated to fetch £8,000-£12,000 (pictured) and a woolly rhinoceros skull 

Auction house director Rupert van der Werff said: 'We are really proud to be able to offer a Coelacanth Painten in our Evolution sale this year for the first time.

'They so rarely are uncovered and it is even more rare that they come up for sale.

'This is a particularly fine example as it is clearly showing all the features of coelacanths – the rather limb-like structure of the fins makes you understand how the evolution from fishes to amphibians could have started.'

The coelacanth will go on sale alongside items including dinosaur eggs and fossils preserved in amber.

If the Jurassic period does not appeal to potential bidders, they could instead consider a woolly rhinoceros skull which is at least 10,000 years old.

The 31in (78cm) skull is expected to sell for between £4,000 and £6,000, while a mammoth tusk weighing a hefty 119lb (54kg) is expected to fetch up to £18,000.

More information can be found at https://www.summersplaceauctions.com/.

1 comment:

  1. Where do they derive these idiot numbers from. How about 200 million-billion years ago. You see, when it doesn't fit, just throw in a few more million years and then it comes together. Their religion of evolution is always fixable by adding or subtracting unfathomable number of years where no one was alive and they use circular reasoning to arrive at their idiot years to prove something. How do you know that fish was from 200 million years ago? Well, the rocks we found it in are that old. How do you know that? We found a 200 million year old fish in it.

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