The Tethys Ocean was an ancient sea that emerged from the supercontinent Pangea during the Triassic Period. For millions of years it was filled with aquatic animals - ammonites, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and a diversity of invertebrate life that we know today only through the fossil record. As tectonic plates crashed against each other, the bedrock of this ocean floor was lifted thousands of feet above sea level - preserved as limestone deposits in what is now the European Alps and the Himalayas. This authentic Tethys Ocean floor fossil specimen is a piece of that ancient sea bed: a real piece of the floor of an ocean that no longer exists. A Piece of a Vanished Ocean - Lifted Into the Alps The Tethys Ocean disappeared when the African and Indian tectonic plates collided with Eurasia, closing the sea and forcing its floor upward to form the mountain ranges of southern Europe and Asia. The limestone you hold in this specimen was once the floor of a warm Mesozoic sea - deposited grain by grain by the accumulated shells and skeletons of millions of marine organisms over millions of years. This real prehistoric ocean floor fossil slab is presented in a glass-topped riker display case with an informational card also serving as the certificate of authenticity. The Authentic Tethys Ocean Floor Fossil for Collectors This is not a cast. This is a genuine piece of ancient ocean floor. Each specimen includes a Mini Museum certificate of authenticity and informational display card. Explore more in our Natural History Collection. Product Details SKU: 80-112-0237-201-40 Type: Tethys Ocean limestone (ancient ocean floor) Period: Triassic and later Mesozoic Display: Glass-topped riker display case Includes: Certificate of authenticity and informational card
