Permian fish fossil Palaeoniscum freieslebeni

Description Permian fish fossil Palaeoniscum freieslebeni for sale from the Kupferschiefer in Germany. Kupferschiefer is deposited during the Upper Permian period and is part of the Zechstein Formation. It is a marine deposit. It is called Kupferschiefer (Copperslate) since it has been mined for Copper. Mining has ceased since the late 80’s. The shafts had reached 1 km of depth and mining became uneconomically. Many fossils have been discovered in the mining process over the years. Kupferschiefer is a marine deposit and most of the fossils resemble marine fish. But there are also terrestrial fossils in the Kupferschiefer. They have been swept into the sea from the nearby Harz Mountains, back then an island. The most common found fossil is a fish called Palaeoniscum freieslebeni. He had an average size of 10 to 20 cm. Smaller (4 cm) and larger (35 cm) specimen exist but they are very rare. From fragment finds it is believed they could reach up to 40 cm length. These Palaeoniscum fossils make out about 92% of all the fossils in the Kupferschiefer. That dos not mean they are found everywhere. Fossils are not abundant in all layers of the Kupferschiefer. If there is a fossil it is mostly incomplete. I would say on 50 or 70 incomplete Palaeoniscum there is one complete specimen. Many days of searching there with not a complete one to take home is common. Kupferschiefer is also the main target of these mines. It is simply removed and made into copper. Kupferschiefer is only very little present on the mining dumps. Measuring with the bend, this Permian Fish Fossil Palaeoniscum  is 9 cm or 3.5 inches long. The fossil has a lot of structure, that is not captured in the photo (scales, part tail structure, headbones).