14.8" Dactylioceras Ammonite Cluster With Hanger - Germany

Dactylioceras Ammonite Cluster With Hanger - Germany #132721

This is a cluster of three Dactylioceras ammonites from the Posidonia Shale of Germany. They have been compressed and are preserved on a black slate in a partially pyritized state. The entire piece measures 14.8" wide and the largest ammonite is 3.2" across. The rock has been coated with a sealant to protect it and a hanger installed on the back so that it can easily be hung on a wall.

Ammonites were predatory cephalopod mollusks that resembled squids with spiral shells. They are more closely related to living octopuses, though their shells resemble that of nautilus species. True ammonites appeared in the fossil record about 240 million years ago during the Triassic Period. 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