2 1/2 Inch Flashy Red Iredescent Ammonite

/ Inch Flashy Red Iredescent Ammonite #1345

This a beautiful flashy, red iridescent ammonite of the genus Cleoniceras from Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. When the light hits it at certain angles the polished shell really shines with brilliant red hues. The specimen is 2.52 inches wide and is Early Cretaceous (Albian Stage) in age, approximately 110 million years old.

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

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