Koller - Out of This World Tuesday, 28 June 2022, 4pm

1812* DRONINOMETEORITE Ryazan Oblast, Russia Found: 2000 Composition: 83% iron, 17% nickel and trace elements 7.5 kg 24 x 17 x 7 cm Provenance: Italian private collection The Dronino meteorite struck before the year 1200 AD. It must have been a spectacular event, yet there is no evidence of it, as this area was uninhabited at the time of the impact. So far 550 fragments of this meteorite have been found, the heaviest frag- ment weighs 250 kilograms. This 7.5 kg heavy meteorite belongs to the ataxite group. Ataxites are rare iron meteorites with high nickel content. Only about five percent of all meteorites belong to this group. CHF 14 000 / 18 000 (€ 13 590 / 17 480) 1813* SPINY AMMONITE Crioceras Nolani Alpes de Haute-Provence, France Cretaceous, Hauterivian, 129-132 million years 35 x 34 x 6 cm Provenance: Italian private collection Ammonites are an extinct group of cephalopods that were very rich in form. There are 1500 known genera of ammonites. Thanks to their variety of forms ammonites are a popular collector‘s item. Their shell - rolled up in the manner of a logarithmic spiral - recalls that of a snail, but this is not the case with all ammonites. The species Crioceras Nolani has a flat, spiral shell, where no coil is in contact with the other. Why this shape developed in this way is unknown. Possibly this species lived in the benthic zone at the lowest level of the sea, so there was no need for a shell suitable for swimming in this species. The spines decorating the animal‘s shell served as protection for the ammonite, which was either sedentary or could only move slowly on the sea floor. The specimen presented here has wonderful and long spines and is a masterpiece of modern palaeontology. CHF 10 000 / 15 000 (€ 9 710 / 14 560) | 12 Out of This World | Natural History, Space Exploration & Entertainment Memorabilia