Belemnite Fossil (replaced by Flint) with Pyrite

Item Description

From the new find in early 2016, this piece is a cool blending of worlds as it is essentially a half fossil / half mineral specimen. A good friend of ours in Russia was able to procure a few fine quality examples of this material for us, without having to go through a few other sets of hands in order to get them here to the US. Belemnites are extinct, somewhat squid-like cephalopods which existed during the Mesozoic era. This piece features a gemmy! fossil shell of Belemnite which has been replaced by translucent, rich honey colored, flint. In turn the actual "meat" of the dead animal was enough to provide the required sulfur, which combined with a sufficiently iron-bearing setting gave way to growing the semi-spherical, golden, metallic, lustrous Pyrite "ball" that now hosts the former creatures' shell. A very odd and extraordinary specimen of this rare material. Typically Belemnite fossils are opaque and black, so imagine our delight to see something that is not only colorful, but actually passed light when backlit! I don't know if there will be more of these attractive and unusual specimens, so if you have an interest in fossils, or especially fossil / mineral combinations, don't miss out on this one.