1.5" Pyritized (Pleuroceras) Ammonite Fossil With Pos/Neg - Germany

Pyritized (Pleuroceras) Ammonite Fossil With Pos/Neg - Germany #167842

This is a beautifully pyritized Pleuroceras ammonite fossil collected near Forcheim, Germany. It's Jurassic, Pliensbachian stage or approximately 185 million years old. Both the ammonite and a negative portion of the nodule are included with your purchase. You can feel the heft of the iron pyrite in the specimen when you hold it in your hand.

Please note that the ammonite has been brushed with a wire brush to give it a more golden brilliant shine. Despite being pyritized their natural color when found is much duller.

Ammonites were predatory mollusks that resembled a squid with a shell. These cephalopods had eyes, tentacles, and spiral shells. They are more closely related to a living octopus, though the shells resemble that of a nautilus. True ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago. The last lineages disappeared 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous.

What an ammonite would have looked like while alive.

More about ammonites