2.4" Hoploscaphites Ammonite - Fox Hills Formation

This is a beautiful Hoploscaphites nicoletti ammonite from the Fox Hills Formation in South Dakota. It's 2.4" wide and the matrix has been sculpted so that it stands up on it's own. The shell has a beautiful natural opalescence that shines with pink and green hues.

These 70 million year old ammonites lived when South Dakota was a shallow inland sea. It was found preserved in a concretion that was split open. It then had to be hand prepared to remove the hard rock surrounding it from the shell, a very time consuming task.