1.2 Inch Wide Cut/Polished Desmoceras Ammonite

Inch Wide Cut/Polished Desmoceras Ammonite #402

Here is a small ammonite from Madagascar that has been cut and polished to reveal all of the detail of the inner chambers. It's a real cool fossil that would make a great gift or could even be used to make jewelry.

Ammonites were predatory mollusks that resembled squids with shells. These cephalopods had eyes, tentacles, and spiral shells. Though their shells resemble that of a nautilus, they are actually more closely related to living octopuses. Ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago, barely surviving several major extinction events. The last lineages disappeared 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous.

Artist's reconstruction of an ammonite, by Nobu Tamura

More about ammonites