2.8" Green Ammonite (Orthosphinctes) Fossil on Rock - Germany

This is a beautiful green ammonite fossil of the genus Orthosphinctes (Lithacosphinctes) sp., collected from the Gräfenberg Quarry of Bavaria, Germany. It's upper Jurassic in age, or approximately 155 million years old. The majority of the rock surrounding the ammonite has been cleaned away, with one edge of the rock being cut flat.

The Gräfenberg Quarry is famous for the green ammonites (mostly Ardescia) that are found within the sedimentary rock. The green coloration of the ammonites is caused by the mineral glauconite. When exposed to weathering or erosion, glauconite will change color to orange, brown, or yellow.

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.
What an ammonite would have looked like while alive.


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DETAILS
SPECIES
Orthosphinctes (Lithacosphinctes) sp.
LOCATION
Gräfenberg Quarry, Bavaria, Germany
FORMATION
Malm Gamma 1
SIZE
2.8" wide on 4.3 x 3.3" rock
ITEM
#125878
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