Name: Amphibia; Anura: Ranidae; Rana basaltica
Age: Miocene
Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch): Metamorph: 50 mm long Matrix; 120 mm by 95 mm; Tadpole: 23 mm long; Matrix:70 mm by 60 mm
Location: Shanwang , Shandong Province, China
Code: CFB003
Price: $250.00 - Sold
 Description:
This series of plaque display an exceptionally fine example of an
a pair of immature examples of the frog Rana basaltica from the lacustrine
deposits of the Shanwang Biota of the Miocene (18 m.y.a) of China
with fine preservational details. The region was a shallow lake in
which planta and animals that fell into the water were covered with
a fine layer of silt which built up over the ages in thin laminae.
The Shanwang biota is well-known for the fine detail of its specimens,
detail most evident here (notice the soft tissue preservation in the
tadpoles, and the bones in the leg of the metamorph). Frogs are uncommon
fossils. The adult itself is not available due to
exfoliation of the fine laminae from which the matrix is composed
as a result of evaporation of the protecting paraffin with time. I
include the photograph merely to show scale and what an adult looked
like. While frogs are not reptiles, I have posted this specimen in
that category for ease of location within my store. |
