Portunites Crab Fossil from Washington

Description: This is a good example of an uncommon Washington State fossil crab species. The carapace is inflated and in good condition. Unfortunately, only one arm is mostly intact, and none of the legs.

The crab was discovered by cracking the concretion in which it was residing for millions of years. The concretion was then re-glued and painstakingly curated with an air scribe. (The positive never splits cleanly from the negative in these concretions) Considerable work are required to prepare one of these crab concretions.

In March and July of 2008 I had the unique privilege of purchasing two large lots from a most important collection. The collector had painstakingly accumulated a superb group of decapods, echinoderms and other fossils during a twenty-year period. The vast majority of the specimens came from self-collecting, academic resources, trading, and selected purchases. Very few of fossils came from the normal channels of trade shows and commercial internet resources. Any specimen presented under this introductory paragraph will generally be a superior collector grade fossil; be it of rarity, preservation, or, both.