15.4" Sliced Speetoniceras Ammonite With Druzy Pyrite

Sliced Speetoniceras Ammonite With Druzy Pyrite #37862

This is a large, 15.4" wide Speetoniceras ammonite fossil from the Lower Cretaceous deposits of the Volga River in Russia. It has been sliced in half, and polished revealing the inner chamber structure. The chambers are filled with deep pockets of druzy pyrite crystals. The outer side of the ammonite has been nicely prepared to expose the well defined external structure. This is a gorgeous display piece.

There has been some restoration and repair to the ammonite. Several cracks have been repaired and filled on the backside and it's likely some of the pyrite has been added.

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